The traditional way to collect the small, drifting animals in the sea that are called zooplankton is to use plankton nets, and then analyze the tiny organisms under microscopes in the lab. That way you get a close-up view of the plankton, you can watch their movements (unless you preserve them at once!) and observe them from all sides. This makes it easy to determine the species of these animals, which range in size from less than a millimeter to a few centimeters. Unfortunately, many of the fragile forms are destroyed in the sampling process, and exist only as fragments in your sample.
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The Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) coming back from the ocean’s depth. Image credit© Fredrika Norrbin |
Here are some images of plankton collected with the VPR during this cruise.
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Photo credit© Fredrika Norrbin |
Appendicularians have a spinal cord, which make them our closest relatives among the invertebrates. They look a little like tadpole larvae, and are therefore sometimes called Larvaceans. Appendicularians build their own intricate “houses” with feeding nets to collect the smallest particles in the sea. However, these animals only live in their houses for a few hours before leaving them and building another. The discarded houses collapse and form a large part of the marine snow.
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Photo credit© Fredrika Norrbin |
Salps are closely related to appendicularians, and are also producers of marine snow, but in this case it’s not in the form of houses but poo – scientifically named “faecalpellets”.
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Photo credit© Fredrika Norrbin |
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Photo credit© Fredrika Norrbin |
By Fredrika Norrbin
Deploying the VPR at sunset. Image credit© Chris Lindemann |
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