Zooplankton of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts:
A Guide to Their Identification and Ecology

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION TO ZOOPLANKTON:

Adaptations to Planktonic Life
  • Feeding
  • Locomotion
  • Vertical Migrations
  • Defense

Adaptations of Planktonic Larvae
  • Life Cycles and Larval Transport
  • Habitat Selection

Physical and Biological Influences on Zooplankton Distribution
  • Ocean Currents
  • Coastal Waters
  • Thermoclines and coastal stratification
  • Invisible boundaries
  • Cross-shelf transport to nearshore and estuarine areas
  • Tides and tidal currents

Coastal Embayments and Estuaries
  • Barrier Islands and Coastal Embayments
  • Coastal Plain Estuaries
  • Estuarine and Coastal Planktonic Food Webs

Planktonic Food Webs


Brief History of Zooplankton Research-
  • Methods of collecting zooplankton- old and new

Zooplankton and Environmental Quality
  • Hypoxia
  • Harmful Algal Blooms
  • Introduced Invasive Species
  • Global Warming

Selected Readings
IDENTIFICATION AND BIOLOGY OF COMMON ZOOPLANKTON:

Quick Picks. A rapid identification guide to major groups of plankton


Identification
  • Phytoplankton
  • Protozooplankton
  • Cnidarians
  • Ctenophores (comb jellies and sea walnuts)
  • Rotifers
  • Cirripedes (barnacles)
  • Cladocerans (water fleas) and ostracods
  • Copepods
  • Mysids (opossum shrimp)
  • Amphipods, isopods, and cumaceans
  • Decapods (crabs, shrimps and related crustaceans)
  • Stomatopods (mantis shrimps)
  • Arachnids and Incidental Insects
  • Annelids (polychaete and oligochaete worms, leeches)
  • Molluscs (bivalves, gastropods, and cephalopods)
  • Chaetognaths (arrow worms)
  • Echinoderms (starfishes and sea urchins)
  • Less common ciliated invertebrate larvae
  • Lower chordates (ascidians, larvaceans, salps, and doliolids and lancelets)
  • Fishes

APPENDICES:

Appendix I. Collection techniques

Appendix II. Observation tips and techniques

Appendix III. Relaxing, fixing, and preserving zooplankton

Appendix IV. Sample processing and data analysis

Appendix V. References to regional zooplankton surveys

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