A food chain is a food chain that interrelates the different links that make up the chain.
The characteristic of this chain is that a link feeds on the previous one, and at the same time feeds on the next one. For this reason, when a link weakens, those that until now were their food proliferate. A clear example occurs with sea turtles, since their gradual disappearance has caused an exponential increase in the jellyfish on which the turtles fed.
If you continue reading our site, we will tell you about the links that make up the marine food chain.
Initial link of the marine food chain
The Sun, or to be more exact sunlight, is the initial food for the first link in the marine food chain.
From this light the first primary organisms of this chain capture their energy. They are called autotrophs Autotrophic organisms metabolize their food through photosynthesis from sunlight and chemical reactions caused by carbon dioxide and minerals dissolved in the water and the air. The phytoplankton is the first link in the marine food chain. They are tiny plants autotrophs.
Zooplankton, the second link
The zooplankton are animals tiny herbivores that feed on phytoplankton. It is the second link in the marine food chain. The krill, other crustaceans and other fish feed on zooplankton, and in turn are grazed by other fish and larger marine life. These beings are the third link in the marine food chain.
Grassfish
The newly hatched fry from the hatched eggs of countless marine species feed on zooplankton, krill, and beings that belong to these primary links that make up the broad base of themarine food pyramid.
Sardines and other similar fish feed on plankton that they filter through their gills. These fish that gather in huge schools are also called "grass fish".
It is the link that feeds most marine predators such as dolphins, barracuda, tuna, sea bass, seals and countless other marine predators of different sizes. They are the fourth link in the marine food chain.
Fifth link
The fifth and final link of the marine food chain is made up of the large carnivorous predators that populate the oceans and seas on land. These fish and mammals (sharks, killer whales, and white bears are examples) feed on intermediate-sized individuals and also on grazing fish.
An example would be the following: sardines are eaten by tuna, and tuna are preyed upon by sharks and killer whales, which also attack schools of sardines, herring, squid, etc.
Parasites
Within the stages of the food chain there are many parasitic beings (remoras, limpets, sea lice), which feed with the waste of the animals they parasitize.
Whales, despite their enormous size, feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton, carrying a multitude of crustaceans and gastropods attached to their bodies that feed on their waste. Another well-known example is the remora fish and pilot fish that accompany sharks and feed on their waste.
There are also "servant" fish. These fish feed on the parasites that populate the epidermis of other larger fish, and even enter their mouths to rid them of residues and internal parasites.
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