NEW METHODS FOR TREATMENT OF NET SAMPLES AND FOR UNDERWATER IMAGING OF ZOOPLANKTON

Gabriel Gorsky, Philippe Grosjean, Marc Picheral and Caroline Warembourg

LOV, UMR7093, Observatoire Oceanologique, 06234 Villefranche/mer, France gorsky@obs-vlfr.fr

Three methods will be presented here.

1) A system for enumeration, measurement and identification of zooplankton from net samples named ZOOSCAN is designed for retrospective data acquisition. Historical or new zooplankton collections may be scanned using this non-destructive method and new databases can be rapidly compiled or existing ones completed.

2) The Underwater Video Profiler is used for in situ image acquisition of macroplankton, especially of fragile forms frequently damaged using net sampling. Macroplankton image files are acquired in quasi real time and can be used by expert systems or by specialists for species determination.

3) Creation of virtual holotypes is an important tool for gathering information concerning fragile organisms that may play a significant role in marine ecosystems. Because of their delicate nature their identification is restricted to a small number of specialists. By the 3D reconstruction of sectioned organisms and wide diffusion of these virtual holotypes on the web we hope to enlarge the expertise and collect new information on insufficiently documented species.