Project Information

This online identification guide is available for free on cd-rom direct from the authors. Please contact us for more information.

This website expands upon the “Guide to the Zooplankton of South Eastern Australia” (number 10 in the Fauna of Tasmania series) that was first published in 2003.

The original guide is available for $18 (+postage and handling) direct from the publisher:
School of Zoology
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 5
Hobart, Tasmania, 7005
Phone (within Australia): 03 6226 2613
Phone (outside of Australia): +61 3 6626 2613
Fax (within Australia): 03 6226 2745
Fax (outside of Australia): +61 3 6226 2745

Funding

Funding for this project is provided by the Australian Biological Resource Study (ABRS), a programme within the Parks Australia Division of the Department of the Environment and Water Resources. Logistic support for sampling and photography comes from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute.

Samples

The majority of the samples were collected within the coastal waters of eastern Tasmania, Australia. Care was taken to ensure that collection did not stress the zooplankton and consequently distort their appearance or destroy their soft bodies. Samples were processed and images taken as soon as possible, as we aimed to capture the natural appearance and colouration of the zooplankton. However as zooplankton are often preserved prior to sorting and identification, we have also photographed and represented preserved specimens of some taxa for comparison. Please note that where a preserved animal is photographed this is stated in the caption. In addition, as the preference for zooplankton sorting under a microscope varies, in some cases specimens are represented both on light and dark backgrounds.

Photography

All photos, unless otherwise specified, were taken by Anita Slotwinski at the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, Tasmania, Australia. The zooplankton were photographed with a Leica DC 300F camera mounted on a Leica MZ75 stereo microscope (0.77 to 6.3 x magnification) and a Leica 307-072.057/BZ:11 compound microscope (5 to 100 x magnification).

The scale on photographs is presented in µm units. Please note that 1000 µm is equal to 1 mm.

These photographs can be reproduced for further educational purposes, but only if the graphical content is not altered, and the photographer and this website are fully acknowledged.

Permission must be sought if photographs are to be used for further publication purposes in books etc. Please see the contacts page for relevant contact information.

Further information regarding the copyright of this site is available on the disclaimer page.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Royal Society of Tasmania and Dr Nyan Taw for permission to reproduce figures from Nyan Taw (1975 and 1978).

We also wish to thank the Australian Antarctic Division for permission to reproduce, in part or entirety, figures and tables from their publications.

Thanks are due to Russ Hopcroft for contributing a selection of images; Graham Edgar for photos of Beroe and Aurelia; Dick Williams for the photo of Sagitta gazellae; Caroline Sutton for photos of seastar larvae; Gustaaf Hallegraeffand for the image of the red-tide at Freycinet and to George Cresswell for permission to use his figures showing surface currents around Australia and Tasmania.

There are many of our colleagues who have generously spent time reviewing parts of this guide and offering suggestions for improvement. We thank them all for their assistance.

Copyright holders are acknowledged in the text alongside their figures. In cases where we were unable to track the copyright holder, we have given the source of the figure as a web address.

Thanks go to staff at the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute and the Aquafin CRC Project staff who assisted in field work and zooplankton tows. We are also very grateful to the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute PhD students who generously gave their time and field resources to assist in our zooplankton sampling. We are also grateful to the staff at Huon Aquaculture, Dover, for taking the time to help with regular zooplankton sampling.

The authors are very grateful to the Australian Biological Resources Study, the School of Zoology, University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute for financial and logistical support.