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ZooDB (Holoplankton Community)

ZooDB Holoplankton Community

cce-lter_zoodbCCE-LTERprovider terms ↗in the release since v2026.06.26metadata

Holoplankton abundance and carbon biomass by 33 higher taxa (copepods to family, plus amphipods, chaetognaths, salps, pyrosomes, pteropods, ostracods, foraminifera, radiolaria and more) from CalCOFI net tows, 1951-2021 … CalCOFI holds 30,948 observations from 506 sampling events at 62 stations, 1951–2015, 0–225 m.

1951–2015
years
30,948
observations
506
sampling events
62
stations
0
species
0–225 m
depth
What this is

Holoplankton abundance and carbon biomass by 33 higher taxa (copepods to family, plus amphipods, chaetognaths, salps, pyrosomes, pteropods, ostracods, foraminifera, radiolaria and more) from CalCOFI net tows, 1951-2021, enumerated by microscopy (Ohman Lab / SIO Pelagic Invertebrate Collection). One row per (sample, taxon, measurement_type); unpooled tows are station-resolved, pooled samples are per-cruise regional composites. Raw (uncorrected) abundance per 1000 m3 and per m2, plus biomass mg C/m2.

Principal investigators
Mark D. Ohman · Bertha Lavaniegos · Linsey Sala
Creators
Mark D. Ohman (UCSD SIO) · Moira Decima (UCSD SIO)
Funding
NSF
Zooplankton
Net-tow zooplankton: displacement volume, imaged and identified taxa, decapod larvae
st60-ln60 · 99 obs · 1951–1951st80-ln60 · 99 obs · 1953–1953st90-ln60 · 198 obs · 1951–1953st52-ln63.3 · 99 obs · 1953–1953st55-ln63.3 · 204 obs · 1951–2012st60-ln63.3 · 111 obs · 1953–2012st70-ln63.3 · 6 obs · 2012–2012st80-ln63.3 · 6 obs · 2012–2012st90-ln63.3 · 6 obs · 2012–2012st50-ln66.7 · 507 obs · 1991–2012st55-ln66.7 · 309 obs · 1951–2012st60-ln66.7 · 123 obs · 1991–2012st65-ln66.7 · 198 obs · 1991–1991st70-ln66.7 · 123 obs · 1998–2012st75-ln66.7 · 111 obs · 2010–2012st80-ln66.7 · 204 obs · 1991–2012st85-ln66.7 · 99 obs · 1991–1991st51-ln70 · 99 obs · 1991–1991st55-ln70 · 222 obs · 1951–2012st60-ln70 · 222 obs · 1951–2012st70-ln70 · 303 obs · 1953–2012st80-ln70 · 303 obs · 1953–2012st90-ln70 · 105 obs · 1951–2012st51-ln80 · 468 obs · 1953–2012st55-ln80 · 675 obs · 1951–2015st60-ln80 · 804 obs · 1951–2012st70-ln80 · 336 obs · 1956–2012st46.9-ln81.8 · 138 obs · 1966–2012st40.6-ln83.3 · 270 obs · 1972–2012st42-ln83.3 · 204 obs · 1966–2012st51-ln83.3 · 528 obs · 1964–1998st55-ln83.3 · 567 obs · 1951–2012st60-ln83.3 · 468 obs · 1951–2012st70-ln83.3 · 240 obs · 1956–2015st35.8-ln85.4 · 66 obs · 1953–1953st33-ln86.7 · 270 obs · 1984–2012st35-ln86.7 · 537 obs · 1953–2015st40-ln86.7 · 534 obs · 1956–2012st45-ln86.7 · 402 obs · 1953–2012st50-ln86.7 · 375 obs · 1951–2012st55-ln86.7 · 213 obs · 1986–2015st60-ln86.7 · 378 obs · 1953–2015st70-ln86.7 · 342 obs · 1953–2012st28-ln90 · 336 obs · 1953–2012st30-ln90 · 303 obs · 1958–2012st35-ln90 · 138 obs · 1984–2012st37-ln90 · 336 obs · 1951–2012st45-ln90 · 438 obs · 1951–2015st53-ln90 · 573 obs · 1951–2012st60-ln90 · 309 obs · 1958–2012st70-ln90 · 336 obs · 1953–2012st110-ln90 · 6 obs · 2012–2012st26.7-ln93.3 · 6 obs · 2012–2012st28-ln93.3 · 207 obs · 1964–2015st30-ln93.3 · 669 obs · 1951–2015st35-ln93.3 · 570 obs · 1953–2015st40-ln93.3 · 534 obs · 1953–2012st45-ln93.3 · 297 obs · 1953–1984st50-ln93.3 · 303 obs · 1956–2012st55-ln93.3 · 372 obs · 1964–2015st60-ln93.3 · 537 obs · 1966–2015st70-ln93.3 · 435 obs · 1951–2012125°W120°W30°N35°N
62 CalCOFI stations sampled, sized by observations, over the survey grid.

What is in it

1951 · 1,881 obs1953 · 1,683 obs1956 · 660 obs1958 · 462 obs1964 · 396 obs1966 · 1,254 obs1972 · 924 obs1974 · 528 obs1978 · 396 obs1979 · 726 obs1980 · 660 obs1983 · 429 obs1984 · 594 obs1986 · 858 obs1991 · 2,244 obs1995 · 1,188 obs1997 · 792 obs1998 · 1,617 obs1999 · 198 obs2008 · 270 obs2010 · 198 obs2012 · 384 obs2015 · 33 obs19501960197019801990200020102020
Observations per year, 1951–2015.
3 variables · zooplankton_abundance, zooplankton_abundance_areal, zooplankton_biomass_carbon units and counts

obs_bio profile · one value per taxon at a sampling event · 30,948 values · 1951–2015 · 3 variables

zooplankton_abundance count/1000m3 10,316zooplankton_abundance_areal count/m2 10,316zooplankton_biomass_carbon mgC/m2 10,316

33 taxa · Pyrosomatida pyrosoma, Salpida salp, Galatheidae squat lobsters, Foraminifera foraminiferans, Gymnosomata naked pteropods, Atlantidae atlantas … the 33 most observed

5 of 12 months · extent 30.8–37.6°N, 125.8–117.3°W · 1951-03 to 2015-04

Ways in

Explorerdb-queryOriginal at ZooDBERDDAPParquetnetCDFSTACIngest notebookcalcofi.orgAs JSON

Every endpoint 27 · explore 5, get the data 5, code 4, metadata records 7, archives & portals 6

Every endpoint this dataset can be reached through, grouped by how you would use it. Each name is the link; the copy button beside it copies the address. Everything is in the release record and was answered when the release was cut.

Apps that read this dataset from the release. The icons after a name are the app’s lenses — the spatial grain it shows the data at.

CalCOFI ExplorerAcross datasetsopens on this dataset
Station ExplorerAcross datasetsopens on this dataset
Hexagon ExplorerAcross datasetsopens on this dataset
Cruise ExplorerAcross datasetsopens on this dataset
Station Data PortalStudent contribution
Cite no citation from the provider yet

This dataset's own citation. What to cite, and how, is a chapter of the docs book.

The provider has not confirmed a citation for this dataset yet (11 open questions with the provider). Cite the release below, and name the dataset by its key.

ZooDB Holoplankton Community [dataset].
License: custom (https://oceaninformatics.ucsd.edu/zoodb/)
Acknowledgement: Plankton sample analysis supported by NSF grants to M.D. Ohman and the CCE-LTER site, and by the SIO Pelagic Invertebrate Collection.
BibTeX
@misc{cce-lter_zoodb,
  title = {ZooDB Holoplankton Community},
  note  = {License: custom (https://oceaninformatics.ucsd.edu/zoodb/); Acknowledgement: Plankton sample analysis supported by NSF grants to M.D. Ohman and the CCE-LTER site, and by the SIO Pelagic Invertebrate Collection.}
}

Acknowledgement. Plankton sample analysis supported by NSF grants to M.D. Ohman and the CCE-LTER site, and by the SIO Pelagic Invertebrate Collection.

…and the release it came from

CalCOFI (2026). CalCOFI Integrated Database, release v2026.11.05 [Data set]. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA Fisheries, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. https://calcofi.io/db-schema/?v=v2026.11.05
BibTeX
@misc{calcofi_release_v2026_11_05,
  title     = {CalCOFI Integrated Database, release v2026.11.05},
  author    = {CalCOFI},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA Fisheries, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife},
  url       = {https://calcofi.io/db-schema/?v=v2026.11.05}
}
Provenance source read 2026-10-21 · 5 release tables · 1 changed in v2026.11.05 · 94 source files
source accessed
2026-10-21
record updated
2026-09-07
blockers
per-taxon export pulled from ZooDB portal (33 higher taxa x 2 units, pooled=combined; 503 samples 1951-2021); WoRMS 33/33 (2 unaccepted Q07); cruise_key/timezone Q01/Q02
archive of record
Archive of record: none with a DOI — the ingest reads CCE-LTER's DataZoo export. An EDI package is CCE-LTER's to deposit (planned, not CalCOFI's); OBIS planned (Darwin Core Archive built and staged each release).
tracking
#31

What changed in v2026.11.05

  • obs 155 KB · since v2026.11.05

Source files

The original inputs the ingest notebook read, archived by the ingest to the public files bucket — 94 files, 7.7 MB.

and 82 more

release changelog ↗

Open questions for the provider 2 on this dataset · 11 open in all
  • Q11 consent — open
  • Q10 citation_main — proposed

Each is a field the record proposes and the provider has not yet confirmed.

Keywords 4 GCMD

ZooplanktonCrustaceansCopepodsZooplankton Biomass and Diversity

Everything here is open; nothing on calcofi.io asks you to register first. If this dataset ends up in something you build or publish, register your use so it can be credited and linked back; to hear when a release changes it, stay informed. Questions: data@calcofi.io.