# Tiny ocean animals reveal a hidden foundation of marine life

Source: [Earth.com](https://www.earth.com/climate/tiny-ocean-animals-reveal-a-hidden-foundation-of-marine-life/) · 2026-11-14 · Earth & Climate
Page: https://themorning.science/story/tiny-ocean-animals-reveal-a-hidden-foundation-of-marine-life-ce2683eca5cc40bb
Kind: research · Impact: low

## In brief

- Researchers found that roughly half of the food supporting Calanus copepods in the warm, nutrient-poor tropical Pacific could be traced back to bacteria.
- Microscopic algae are commonly described as the base of many ocean food chains, and this work points to a major bacterial role alongside them.

## Why it matters

The findings suggest bacteria can be a substantial link in ocean food webs, not only algae, which matters for science readers who model marine ecosystems or energy flow in the ocean.

## Coverage

- [Tiny ocean animals reveal a hidden foundation of marine life](https://www.earth.com/climate/tiny-ocean-animals-reveal-a-hidden-foundation-of-marine-life/) — Earth.com, 2026-11-14

Tags: marine biology, plankton, food webs, bacteria, tropical pacific

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science