Coastal Marine Zooplankton

The marine zooplankton is one of the most fascinating and diverse assemblages of animals known to biologists. This is a new edition of the successful student's manual providing a photographic guide to representative forms of the major groups from medusae and comb jellies to larval fish and squid. In it, only live and active organisms have been photographed, giving a unique visual perspective. In this new edition, the taxonomy and morphology have been revised and brought up to date, so that combined with information on behaviour and development, this book creates a vivid and essential reference text for all those interested in marine zooplankton.

This manual provides an original, photographic guide to representative forms of the major marine zoological groups, from medusae and comb jellies to larval fish and squid, and each picture is accompanied by appropriate systematics and taxonomic details. The exclusive use of live and active organisms as subjects for illustration provides a unique visual perspective, and this together with details of taxonomy, morphology, development, and behavior creates a vivid and essential text for all those interested in marine zooplankton.

Beautifully illustrated, this is the only identification guide to zooplankton of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Zooplankton are critical to the vitality of estuaries and coastal waters. In this revised edition of Johnson and Allen's instant classic, readers are taken on a tour of the miniature universe of zooplankton, including early developmental stages of familiar and diverse shrimps, crabs, and fishes. Zooplankton of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts details the behavior, morphology, and coloration of these tiny aquatic animals. Precise descriptions and labeled illustrations of hundreds of the most commonly encountered species provide readers with the best source available for identifying zooplankton. Inside the second edition • an updated introduction that orients readers to the diversity, habitats, environmental responses, collection, history, and ecological roles of zooplankton • descriptions of life cycles • illustrations (including 88 new drawings) that identify 340-plus taxa and life stages • range, habits, and ecology for each entry located directly opposite the illustration • appendices with information on collection and observation techniques and citations of more than 1,300 scientific articles and books

Each glance into a marine plankton sample is a look into a fantastic world for anyone who wants to study protists and invertebrate animals. Nowhere is it possible to observe with a simple device such a variety of forms and taxa, developmental stages and adaptations as in a Petri dish with a small plankton sample placed under a light microscope. This book, with more than 600 micro- and 40 macrophotographs on 60 colour plates, is an introduction to the most important and most common taxa present in the plankton, and it allows the identification even of numerous common species. 117 micrographs demonstrate characteristic forms of the phytoplankton, 70 of protozoans, more than 300 show larvae and other developmental stages, and about 90 show holoplanktonic adults of the zooplankton. The comprehensively annotated pictures are taken from living organisms, during marine excursions, mainly from the North Sea coastal area but also from other European coastlines, including the western Mediterranean. The book, therefore, is excellently suited to be used in such university courses for students of zoology and marine biology as well as for their teachers, but it is certainly also a comprehensible guide for any amateur microscopist and interested layperson.

The marine coastal plankton community supports a diverse selection of fascinating organisms. Many of these planktonic fauna are unique and beautiful. This text is designed to assist students, naturalists and researchers in collecting and identifying living plankton. A valuable tool in the classroom and laboratory, this guide conveys to biology teachers all the information necessary to introduce their students to the world of marine plankton. Also included are brief overviews of the ecology and maintenance of plankton, as well as valuable references for more information. A Guide to Marine Coastal Plankton and Marine Invertebrate Larvae provides the curious beginner and the experienced investigator with assistance on their journey into the realm of marine coastal plankton.

One aim of the physical sciences has been to give an exact picture of the material world. One achievement of physics in the twentieth century has been to prove that that aim is unattainable . . . . There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imperfect. We have to treat it with humility. Bronowski (1973) The Ascent of Man It seems particularly appropriate to us to begin this book with Jacob Bronowski's passionate message firmly in mind. Those who set out to construct numerical models, especially ones that are mechanistic and essentially deterministic, must work always with this awareness as a backdrop for their efforts. But this is also true for the most meticulous physiologist or observant naturalist. We are all dealing with simplifications and abstractions, all trying to figure out how nature works. Unfortunately, this common pursuit does not always lead to mutual understanding, and we have become increasingly aware over the past six years that many ecologists feel a certain hostility or at least distrust toward numerical modeling. In a number of cases the reasons for such feelings are personal and very understandable-hard gotten data skimmed off by someone with little appreciation for the difficulties involved in obtaining reliable measurements, grandiose claims of predictability, the tendency for some model builders to treat other scientists as number-getters whose research can be directed in response to the needs of the model, etc.

Healthy waterways and oceans are essential for our increasingly urbanised world. Yet monitoring water quality in aquatic environments is a challenge, as it varies from hour to hour due to stormwater and currents. Being at the base of the aquatic food web and present in huge numbers, plankton are strongly influenced by changes in environment and provide an indication of water quality integrated over days and weeks. Plankton are the aquatic version of a canary in a coal mine. They are also vital for our existence, providing not only food for fish, seabirds, seals and sharks, but producing oxygen, cycling nutrients, processing pollutants, and removing carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. This Second Edition of Plankton is a fully updated introduction to the biology, ecology and identification of plankton and their use in monitoring water quality. It includes expanded, illustrated descriptions of all major groups of freshwater, coastal and marine phytoplankton and zooplankton and a new chapter on teaching science using plankton. Best practice methods for plankton sampling and monitoring programs are presented using case studies, along with explanations of how to analyse and interpret sampling data. Plankton is an invaluable reference for teachers and students, environmental managers, ecologists, estuary and catchment management committees, and coastal engineers.

This is a practical guide to the taxonomy and identification of planktonic organisms, which also provides a general introduction to plankton biology and incorporates the latest techniques in plankton ecology.