Zooplankton Identification

Mesozooplankton captured with the In Situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System. All of these organisms were found in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Your role will be looking at different images and identifying which organism it is. Through this training you will be able to see a variety of common zooplanktons, learn about their identifying features and explore their lifecycles. By understanding what these organisms are and their life stages, it will help make identification easier.

As zooplankton are so abundant and diverse, you won’t be able to learn them all at once! Do not let the training overwhelm you, focus on one organism at a time and when you feel confident move on to the next. The more you practice the easier it will become, in a week or two it will be muscle memory, and you will be a zooplankton pro.  

Click on hot spots to find out what these two iconic zooplankton are.

The different zooplankton have been split up into groupings of similar organisms. You will get some information on the group as a whole, then the individual organisms. Now it is time to get started!