This is two entirely different questions. Algae are a polyphyletic group containing plants and near plant eukaryota and also if one includes the cyanobacteria (blue green algae) some prokaryotes. Plankton are a very broad category that contains certain algae and also animals, protists, and bacteria. To quote wikipedia:. read more
Algae are a polyphyletic group containing plants and near plant eukaryota and also if one includes the cyanobacteria (blue green algae) some prokaryotes. Plankton are a very broad category that contains certain algae and also animals, protists, and bacteria. read more
Classification of algae Diagnostic features The classification of algae into taxonomic groups is based upon the same rules that are used for the classification of land plants, but the organization of groups of algae above the order level has changed substantially since 1960. read more
Essentially, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than any phylogenetic or taxonomic classification. Though many planktonic species are microscopic in size, plankton includes organisms over a wide range of sizes, including large organisms such as jellyfish. read more
Classification of algae Diagnostic features. The classification of algae into taxonomic groups is based upon the same rules that are used for the classification of land plants, but the organization of groups of algae above the order level has changed substantially since 1960. read more
Plankton refers to a mode of life not a class of organisms (like classing together all animals that fly). Many of these are plants but some are animals and some are neither! All true algae are plants but some thinks that we call algae (like “blue-green algae”) are actually neither plants nor animals. read more