For the past week or so, first year Marine Science students have been learning about plankton. After collecting plankton of the Pearson College dock, students examined the samples using microscopes.
Some of the species in the sample included a cross jellyfish (Mitrocoma cellularia):
A sea gooseberry / comb jelly / ctenophore (Pleurobrachia bachei):
A sea cucumber auricularia larva:
More images and videos to follow…
A plankton sample collected from the mouth of Pedder Bay (near the Navy buoy) on Monday 24 September had an incredible diversity and abundance of both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Species lists and selected photos are below.
Phytoplankton species list:
Diatoms: Thalassiosira sp., Asterionellopsis glacialis, Eucampia zodiacus, Coscinodiscus spp., Ditylum brightwellii, Chaetoceros spp., Thalassionema sp., Thalassiothrix sp., Stephanopyxis sp., Skeletonema sp., Pseudo-nitzschia sp., Cylindrotheca closterium
Dinoflagellates: Noctiluca scintillans, Ceratium sp.
Zooplankton species list:
juvenile bay pipefish (Sygnathus leptorhynchus), barnacle nauplius larva, other crustacean nauplius larvae, crab zoea larva, shrimp larva, snail veliger larva, sea urchin pluteus larva, orange-red eggs (possibly sea star eggs), sea star brachiolaria larva, sea cucumber auricularia larva, nemertean pilidium larva, polychaete worm larvae.
copepods, ostracods, cladocerans (Podon and Evadne), siphonophores (possibly Muggiaea), tintinnids, larvaceans (Oikopleura dioica), Obelia jellyfish
Pearson College Marine Science 