Bacterioplankton

Bacterioplankton refers to the bacterial component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word πλανκτος (planktos), meaning "wanderer" or "drifter" (Thurman, 1997), and bacterium, a Latin neologism coined in the 19th century by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. They are found in both seawater and freshwater.