Australian Marine Zooplankton: a taxonomic guide and atlas
Welcome! Here you’ll find help for identifying many common zooplankton species. We have two options to guide you through the identification process. The first is for people starting off in zooplankton identification, where you can use images to hone in on a particular group and ultimately species (hit the Image Key link on the left hand side). The second might be more useful for those with more zooplankton experience, as it is based on species-level taxonomic sheets describing diagnostic characteristics (hit the Taxonomic Key link on the left hand side). Both options provide access to downloadable species-level taxonomic sheets that not only have taxonomic information, but include photographs, diagrams, distribution maps, information on ecology and key references. You will also find general information about zooplankton (under About Zooplankton on the left hand side).
We hope you find this site useful and we welcome any feedback on the content.
Kerrie Swadling and Anthony Richardson.
The importance of zooplankton
Zooplankton constitute a fascinating, diverse and abundant group of animals living in water bodies throughout the world. Zooplankton encompass representatives of all the major invertebrate phyla, including some that can only be found in the plankton. Since they are the principal diet of most larger pelagic animals, including commercially important fish, their study is essential for forming a more complete understanding of the functioning of marine ecosystems.
Identifying zooplankton can be a challenging task as traditional keys have usually been designed for users with a high level of expertise. This online guide allows beginners to identify their specimen to major group and species level via an image-based key, and also caters for more experienced practitioners who might want to go directly to detailed taxonomic sheets.
Authors
- Kerrie Swadling
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
University of Tasmania - Anthony Richardson
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Anita Slotwinski
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Claire Davies
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Jason Beard
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
University of Tasmania - David McKinnon
Australian Institute of Marine Science - Frank Coman
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Nicole Murphy
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Mark Tonks
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Wayne Rochester
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research - Graham Hosie
Australian Antarctic Division
How to reference this site
To reference the site
Swadling KM, Slotwinski A, Davies C, Beard J, McKinnon AD, Coman F, Murphy N, Tonks M, Rochester W,Conway DVP, Hosie GW, Richardson AJ 2013 Australian Marine Zooplankton: a taxonomic guide and atlas. Version 1.0 February 2013
To reference the taxonomic sheets
Richardson AJ, Davies C, Slotwinski A, Coman F, Tonks M, Rochester W, Murphy N, Beard J, McKinnon D, Conway D, Swadling K (2013) Australian Marine Zooplankton: Taxonomic Sheets. 294 pp.
www.imas.utas.edu.au/zooplankton
