OCEAN HERBIVORES. Primary consumers such as Sea turtles, Manatees, and Zoo Plankton rely on the producers seaweed, plankton, and diatoms for food source. Other herbivores include small fish, squid, sea urchins, and krill. Primary consumer: These are plant eaters (herbivores). Some will ingest toxins from the phytoplankton. In the food chain above krill is our primary consumer because it eats plankton and lives in the arctic ocean. The ocean has many herbivores. This is evident in the diagram complementing this article. The marine biome is the largest in the world, and therefore contributes to intricate food webs. Primary consumers make up the second trophic level as they feed on primary producers. Secondary consumers (also known as 3rd order consumers) are the 3rd trophic level. One group is zooplankton. Small fish (yellow –eyed mullet) Secondary consumer: These are consumers that eat primary consumers. Primary consumers in the ocean include zooplankton, small fish, and crustaceans. Some will ingest the toxins from the primary consumers. Primary consumers get its energy by eating the producers. Since the edge of the sea ice is a productive zone for the phytoplankton, the same applies to the zooplankton, and as the ice gradually retreats northwards through the summer, the zooplankton production follows it. These plants play an important part in our ecology. Coral reefs is most diverse of all marine ecosystems, which cover less than 1% earth’s surface and less than 2% of ocean bottoms and also often called as rain forest of the sea. And sea urchins, as you know, feed on coral reefs and kelp. Image acknowledgement: Malcolm Francis. Zooplankton eat phytoplankton. In other words, primary consumers are organisms that take up food directly from plants. primary producer/autotrophs—organisms, like plants, that produce food. Tertiary consumers are the fourth level, eating secondary consumers. Eventually, add all of the examples listed below. The vast deep seas and oceans contain a huge number of sea plants. Zooplankton are animal plankton. Primary consumers are normally herbivores. "Consumer" and "producer," in this usage, refer to the production and consumption of energy in a form that can be used for life processes. So much animals are depending their life in coral reefs, some for food and some for another reasons. Secondary consumers are the third level, and they eat primary consumers. Primary Consumer Definition In an ecological food chain, consumers are classed into primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers. Dolphins are an example of tertiary consumers. Primary (level 1) Consumers – Consumers are living things that can’t make their own food and so they eat other living things. They are also known as the oceans herbivores. A simplistic food chain of the ocean biomes will consist of phytoplanktons, zooplanktons, primary consumers, and tertiary consumers. The primary consumer (also known as the 2nd order consumer) is the 2nd trophic level. The secondary consumers are fish, coral, penguins, whales, and other species that eat the zooplankton. Next ask students to brainstorm ocean examples of each trophic level and write their correct responses on the board. Primary consumers are animals that eat producers, and since producers are almost always green plants, primary consumers can most simply be defined as herbivores, such as cows and deer. Endangered Sea Turtles List; Ocean Coral Reef. The shrimplike krill are found in the cold oceans. Overall, the main decomposer organisms in marine ecosystems are bacteria.Other important decomposers are fungi, marine worms, echinoderms, crustaceans and mollusks.In the colder ocean waters, only bacteria and … Primary consumers are the second level in the food chain, feeding off of producers like phytoplankton. These creatures are known as zooplankton, since they also float around on the water. Tropical oceans like the Pacific have more decomposer organisms than the Atlantic or Arctic oceans because of the warmer temperatures. Primary and secondary consumers – the middle-management level. Many of these primary consumers feed on phytoplankton. In the ocean, many types of tiny, floating animals like crustaceans (sometimes called krill), eat phytoplankton.