Characteristic sizes of transitions between major realms of life in the ocean

Range Table - link
Organism Biosphere
Reference Andersen KH et al., Characteristic Sizes of Life in the Oceans, from Bacteria to Whales. Ann Rev Mar Sci. 2016 8: 217-41. doi: 10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-034144. p.219 table 1PubMed ID26163011
Comments P.218 bottom paragraph: "[Investigators] categorize pelagic life in the ocean based on size in seven general realms: molecular life (viruses), osmo-heterotrophic bacteria, unicellular phototrophs, unicellular mixotrophs and heterotrophs, planktonic multicellular heterotrophs with ontogenetic growth (e.g., copepods), visually foraging poikilotherms (mainly teleosts, cephalopods, and cartilaginous fish), and homeotherms (cetaceans, but not seals, penguins, or other animals that do not live their entire lives in the pelagic). This categorization of life is a deliberately crude representation of the roughly 200,000 eukaryotic species and the unknown number of archaea and bacteria in the ocean (May & Godfrey 1994), as it is explicitly designed to facilitate an understanding based on size. [They] describe the life forms in each realm according to their body size and determine characteristic sizes where there is a transition from one realm to another (see Table 1). In this manner, [they] emphasize body size as a fundamental driver of macroecological patterns in the oceans." P.233 bottom paragraph: "transitions between life forms: [Investigators] have reviewed how size influences resource acquisition, mobility, ability to sense prey, and life history strategy based on theoretical arguments and cross-species empirical analyses. [They] now use these relations to understand the mechanisms behind the transitions between the seven realms of marine life: molecular life (viruses), osmo-heterotrophic bacteria, unicellular phototrophs, unicellular mixotrophs and heterotrophs, planktonic multicellular heterotrophs with ontogenetic growth, visually foraging poikilotherms, and homeotherms (Figure 1, Table 1). These seven realms correspond to the traditional taxonomic division of life into viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton, uni- and multicellular zooplankton, fish, and marine mammals. [Their] alternative naming reflects the function of the groups and highlights the factors that determine the characteristic sizes where there is a transition between the groups." See abbreviations beneath table
Entered by Uri M
ID 112668