Zooplankton samples

Plankton is the aggregate of passively floating, drifting or somewhat motile organisms occurring in the water column. Plankton is critically important to the marine ecosystem, as it is at the basis of the food web functioning.  Effects on the environment are quickly visible on plankton communities, and these communities, as base of the marine food chain, can regulate on their turn the growth of high level trophic organisms.

The LifeWatch observatory is generating a sample library for both zooplankton. Typical representatives of zooplankton include Calanoids, Harpacticoids, Appendicularia, Cnidaria, Ctenophores, and larval Crustaceans.

For requesting samples and for information about conditions of use, please contact info@lifewatch.be.

An overview of the available samples is provided in this table.

The zooplankton sampling, preservation and processing protocol can be consulted here.