Plankton Nets

Plankton Nets are a modification on the standard trawl used to collect planktonic organisms, of nearly any size, intact. Towed by a research vessel, Plankton Nets have a long funnel shape that allows them to catch differently sized plankton simply by changing the mesh size of the net. At the end of the funnel is a collection cylinder called a cod-end.

A ring net, a common form of Plankton Net, being readied for use during Arctic shelf research. (C.A. Linder, Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute; see full-size image -- 74K)		Bongo nets, such as these pictured here on the NOAA ship McARTHUR, are another common design. (NOAA Ocean Explorer; see full-size image -- 74K)		The multinet, a vertically profiling Plankton Net used to collect depth-stratified samples of small zooplankton such as copepods. (Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystems - MAR-ECO. Filipe Porteiro; see full-size image -- 74K)

This amphipod trap is specially designed to collect intact specimens of zooplankton and small crustaceans such as amphipods. (Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life - CeDAMar)

Click on the links below to see what Census projects use this technology:

• Gulf of Maine Area Program (GoMA)
• Natural Geography in Shore Areas (NaGISA)
• Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystems (MAR-ECO)