Census of Marine Zooplankton CmarZ Information

The Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) will work toward a taxonomically
comprehensive assessment of biodiversity of animal plankton throughout the world
ocean. The project goal is to produce accurate and complete information on zooplankton
species diversity, biomass, biogeographic distribution, genetic diversity, and community
structure by 2010. Our taxonomic focus is the ~6,800 described species of animals that
drift with ocean currents throughout their lives (i.e., the holozo-oplankton). Our
expectation is that at least that many new species will be discovered as a result of our
efforts. The census will encompass unique marine environments, which are likely to be
inhabited by endemic and undescribed zooplankton species. CMarZ will make use of
existing data and zooplankton collections. The application of advanced molecular
systematic and population genetic protocols and approaches to zooplankton will allow
analysis of genetic diversity and structure on regional to global scales, detection of
species boundaries, description of population genetic structure, and reconstruction of the
evolutionary histories of organisms frequently lacking fossil records. Close coordination
between molecular and morphological systematic studies will be essential.
Building new capacity and expertise for taxonomic analysis of zooplankton groups is an
essential element of CMarZ. Species-level identification is the top priority for CMarZ,
with the species name serving as a key to the historical repository of information on that
and similar species.