Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Viktor Hensen

German physiologist
Also known as: Christian Andreas Viktor Hensen, Victor Hensen(Show More)

Viktor Hensen (born February 10, 1835, Schleswig, Germany—died April 5, 1924, Kiel) was a physiologist, developmental and reproductive biologist, and biological oceanographer who first used the term “plankton” to describe the organisms that live suspended in the sea (and in bodies of freshwater) and are important because practically all animal life in the sea is dependent on them, directly or indirectly. Quick Facts Hensen attended medical schools in Germany, including Würzburg, Berlin, and Kiel, between...