Overview
Zooplankton net-tow sample registry from the SIO Pelagic Invertebrate Collection, scoped to CalCOFI-program expeditions. Position, time, depth, and gear metadata per tow. Includes the historical grid (1950s-80s inshore, Gulf of California and Baja lines), not just the modern pattern. Biovolume measurements are not in the source file and are pending from the provider (see Questions for Data Providers).
Open with the provider
- Q08 — proposed
Access
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.
Every way to have the bytes, by source. Nothing here asks you to register first.
CF netCDF
One self-describing file, for a tool that reads netCDF.
how far this file is CF
Fully CF: each row is an independent observation with its own time and position, which is a CF point collection. Rows are at the OCCURRENCE grain (event x taxon x life stage x depth), not the event grain, so a sample with many taxa contributes many points.
ERDDAP (erddap.calcofi.io)
One ERDDAP dataset per grain. Subset in the browser or query it from a script; for netCDF take the CF file above.
- sampling events
- one row per cast, tow or transect: when, where and how it was sampled, with the effort that scales it
Legacy ids, still answering until 2026-12-04: calcofi_zooplankton (replaced by sio_pic-zooplankton)
The same release, from a script or a browser SQL shell.
Packages
The whole release, pinned to a version, with the citation one call away.
con <- calcofi4r::cc_get_db()
calcofi4r::cc_cite("sio_pic-zooplankton")con = calcofi4py.cc_get_db()
calcofi4py.cite("sio_pic-zooplankton")db-query, in the browser
__TBL:sample__ is db-query’s name for the pinned release’s sample object — the hashed path above, resolved for you — so the same SQL keeps working when a release changes the object.
-- sio_pic-zooplankton in the CalCOFI release v2026.09.11
SELECT *
FROM __TBL:sample__
WHERE dataset_key = 'sio_pic-zooplankton'
LIMIT 100;Records about the data, in the standards each portal harvests.
Where this dataset is registered outside calcofi.io: each portal’s role, what it is for, the dataset’s status there and the identifier it is known by. The policy — which portal is the archive of record and why — is in Portals.
Policy Archive of record: none yet — the SIO Pelagic Invertebrate Collection's own database export. EDI deposit planned (#42); OBIS planned (Darwin Core Archive built and staged each release). Mirrored on NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP (erdCalCOFIzoovol).
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.
Cite
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. Cite the release below, and name the dataset by its key.
SIO PIC Zooplankton Net Tows [dataset].BibTeX
@misc{sio_pic-zooplankton,
title = {SIO PIC Zooplankton Net Tows}
}…and the release it came from
CalCOFI (2026). CalCOFI Integrated Database, release v2026.09.11 [Data set]. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA Fisheries, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. https://calcofi.io/db-schema/?v=v2026.09.11BibTeX
@misc{calcofi_release_v2026_09_11,
title = {CalCOFI Integrated Database, release v2026.09.11},
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=v2026.09.11}
}Source files
The original inputs the ingest notebook read, archived by the ingest to the public files bucket — 2 files, 18.8 MB.
- SIOPIC_DB_PNTtable_allRecords_9Feb2026.csv18.8 MB2026-07-31
- SIOPIC_DB_PNTtable_fieldDetails_9Feb2026.xlsx10.7 KB2026-07-31