Instructions
This lab has been adapted from the Plankton Lab of Katryn Wiese at City College of San Francisco. The image below shows three locations in the San Francisco Bay where plankton samples (see table below) were collected for this lab. Briefly look at the map and the information shown below and then begin answering the questions.

The table below outlines information about these three sites and links to videos and photo albums of the contents of plankton tows at each site.

Princeton Harbor Marina
Pacific Coast Fort Point
San Francisco Bay Oyster Point
San Francisco Bay
Collection time: 2:00 pm, 3/28, 2020
Tide: HIGH (3.8 Feet)
Collection time: 8:34 am, 3/20/2020
Tide: flooding (5.08 feet)
Collection time: 4:20 pm, 3/26, 2020
Tide: ebbing (4 feet)

Plankton Tour Video (~15 minutes)
Plankton Tour Video (~15 minutes)
Plankton Tour Video (~15 minutes)

Photo Album*
Photo Album*
Photo Album*

Photos showing full eyepiece circle have scale in i = information;
for others, reference the photos with scale or use the videos. Do your best with what you have!
Additional short video and photo highlights
● Amphipod Video*
*width of image ~2 mm
● Obelia (hydroid larvae) — a free floating cnidarian medusa form (like a jellyfish) Video*
*width of image ~2 mm
● Very young polychate larvae (trochophore) Video
*width of image ~2 mm
● Crab Zoea Video
*width of image ~5 mm and clip speed reduced to 25%
● Caligus Copepod Video
*width of lens 5 mm Additional short video and photo highlights
● Diatom Chaetoceros socialis Video
● Diatom: Bacillaria Paxillifer Video
● Diatom Strew Video* (30 seconds)*width of image ~2 mm
● CHAIN DIATOM Photo 1*
(close up)
● Tintinnid Video
● Tintinnid Photo*
(close up from above video)
● Nocticula Video*
*width of image ~2 mm
● Nocticula Photo 1*
*width of image ~2 mm
● Nocticula Photo 2*
*Close up of Photo 1
● Polychate Larvae Photo*
Additional short video and photo highlights
● Diatoms and Tunicate egg Photo*
*width of lens ~2 mm
● Tunicate eggs Photo
● Tunicate larvae Photo
● Polychate larvae and nauplii (copepod larvae) Photo*
*width of lens ~2 mm
● Polychaete larvae and gastropod (snail) larvae Photo*
*width of lens ~2 mm
● Copepod adult and larvae Photo
*width of lens ~5 mm
● Grammatophora Diatom close up Photo*
● Nauplii and Pleurosigma diatom Video*
*width of lens ~2 mm
● Polychaete larvae and copepods Video*
*width of lens ~2 mm

Here is some scale information to help size what you see in the photos and videos. Below is an image of the microscope slides (22 mm x 22 mm). The second series of images shows microscope magnification and scale.

40x magnification 100x magnification 200x magnification 400x magnification

And here are additional photos and references about plankton that may help in answering the questions below.

Protista Animals
Diatoms
● Asterionellopsis
● Bacillaria Paxillifer
● Corethron
● Coscinodiscus
● Chaetoceros socialis
● Cylindrotheca
● Detonula (chains)
● Ditylum
● Eucampia
● Grammatophora
● Isthmia Nervosa
● Navicula
● Odontella
● Pleurosigma
● Pseudo-nitzschia
● Rhizosolenia robusta
● Skeletonema
● Stephanopyxis
Dinoflagellate
(all these species are phytoplankton)
● Akashiwo
● Alexandrium
● Ceratium
○ Ceratrium tripos
● Nocticula
● Prorocentrum
● Protoperidinium
● Pyrocystis

Ciliates
● Tintinnid
Annelid: Polychaete larvae: trochophore

Arthropods
● Barnacle (image; more)
● Copepod (all taxa)
● Shrimp Larvae (or Zoea)
● Crab Zoea

Byrozoan: Larvae: Cyphonautes (more)

Mollusc:
● Bivalve Pediveliger larva
● Nudibranch larvae: veliger

Rotifer (more)

Urochordata: Tunicate:
● Ascidiacea (tunicates and sea squirts)
● Larvacea (Oikopleura)

Additional worms:
● Nemertean worm

Full list of Local Marine Organisms Phyla Reference Links

Questions

1. Begin by watching the “video about how to do a plankton tow” on the Module Lab page. Briefly describe the process of collecting plankton in your own words. (8 pts)

Answer:

2. Next, watch this 7.5-minute introduction to identifying plankton (short video) from Fort Point with labels on most of the organisms when they first appear. Phytoplankton and zooplankton possess many adaptations that allow them to remain neutrally buoyant in the water. For example, they have small bodies (which gives them a large surface area to volume ratio), long, thin appendages, and may also manufacture small amounts of fat & oil. Watch the video and describe the shapes and sizes of the organisms you see. What adaptations can you find to living in the photic zone? (5 pts)

Answer:

3. Next, use the “Taxonomic Classification of a Subset of Marine Organisms” document linked on the module lab page to note the following information for the organism shown in the table below. For example, for “dinoflagellate”, you could choose to describe Ceratium longpipes on page 8 of the Taxonomic Classification document. (32 pts)
1) Taxonomic classification (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, etc.)
2) List at least 4 major traits that organisms from that phylum or class have in common
3) Indicate feeding strategy:
Deposit feeders – Feed off live or dead organisms that live in or on the seafloor
Filter feeders – Actively move through the water or move water through their bodies, filtering organisms Suspension feeders – Passive – waits for food to hit it (stingers or spines)
Predators – Actively hunts prey
Grazers – Feeds off autotrophs, at the source, like scraping algae off a rock
4) Draw one detailed picture and label features. Spend no more than 5 minutes per drawing. Upload your hand drawing as a separate file or attach the picture in the table.

Dinoflagellates

Taxonomic classification:

Four major traits:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

Crustacean larvae: Barnacle, Nauplius Stage

Taxonomic classification:

Four major traits:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

Tintinnid

Taxonomic classification:

Four major traits:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

Copepods

Taxonomic classification:

Four major traits:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

Polychaete larvae

Taxonomic classification:

Four major traits:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

4. Next, Watch the Plankton Tour video from the Princeton Harbor column in the sample table on page 1 of this lab. Fill out the table below for 1 organism in the video. i) Include the name, ii) taxonomic classification, iii) feeding strategy and iv) a detailed drawing. (16 pts)

Name:

Time (minutes and seconds) in video when it appears:

Taxonomic classification:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

5. Next, Watch the Plankton Tour video from the Fort Point column in the sample table on page 1 of this lab. For 1 organism, different than those above, i) include the name, ii) taxonomic classification, iii) feeding strategy and iv) a detailed drawing. (16 pts)

Name:

Time (minutes and seconds) in video when it appears:

Taxonomic classification:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

6. Next, Watch the Plankton Tour video from the Oyster Point column in the sample table on page 1 of this lab. For 1 organism, different than those above, i) include the name, ii) taxonomic classification, iii) feeding strategy and iv) a detailed drawing. (16 pts)

Name:

Time (minutes and seconds) in video when it appears:

Taxonomic classification:

Feeding strategy:

Drawing:

7. Compare these three locations by filling out the following table. Note that an ebb tide is one that is going out/the water is lowering and a flood tide is one that is coming in/rising. Primary productivity can be estimated by the clarity of the water: the cloudier the water, the more phytoplankton there are and the productive it is. (15 pts)

Sample Location: Princeton Harbor Fort Point Oyster Point
Date and time of sample collection:
Tide Level at sample location at collection time:
Current type at sample location at collection time (ebb or flood)
Productivity level (high, medium or low)
List the two most abundant organisms in each sample.