614ee357-1329-4d5b-8bb8-b51910224382 https://ipt.gbif.it/resource?r=zoogon Iole Di Capua Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

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iole.dicapua@szn.it 0000-0003-2959-8977 Andrea Marcucci Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

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andrea.marcucci@szn.it Lorenzo Longobardi WorldFish (CGIAR) l.longobardi@cgiar.org 0000-0003-3126-7341 Iole Di Capua Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

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iole.dicapua@szn.it 0000-0003-2959-8977 2026-05-05 eng This dataset contains zooplankton community data collected at the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) station MareChiara, located in the Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea (40.81°N, 14.25°E), operated by the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN). Samples were collected through vertical net tows from 50 m depth to the surface using an Indian Ocean net (pre-2016) and a WP2 plankton net (from 2016 onwards). Zooplankton abundance is expressed as individuals per cubic metre. The dataset covers the period 1984–2024 and includes taxonomic identifications with WoRMS LSIDs, life-stage and sex annotations, and sampling instrument metadata following BODC NERC Vocabulary Server standards. Data are structured according to the Darwin Core Event core with Occurrence and Extended Measurement or Fact (eMoF) extensions, following OBIS data standards. Samplingevent GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type_2015-07-10.xml zooplankton LTER Mediterranean time series copepoda biodiversity Environmental Thesaurus: https://vocabs.lter-europe.net/EnvThes Naples Gulf Marine Gazetteer geographic name: https://www.marineregions.org/gazetteer.php?p=search Digital Twin of the Ocean N/A Observation GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml The ZooGoN R package (v3.0.0) used for data processing and archive generation is available at https://github.com/ioledc/ZOOGoN-40Y (GPL >= 3). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License. Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-4.0.html CC-BY-NC-4.0 Fixed sampling station MareChiara (LTER-MC), Gulf of Naples, Italy, approximately 2 nautical miles offshore, along the ~75 m isobath, at the boundary between eutrophied coastal waters and oligotrophic Tyrrhenian waters. 14.25 14.25 40.81 40.81 1984-01-26 2024-12-12 Marine mesozooplankton collected in the Gulf of Naples. The dataset includes 418 taxa from multiple phyla. Copepoda is the most diverse group (335 taxa across 6 orders: Calanoida, Cyclopoida, Harpacticoida, Mormonilloida, Siphonostomatoida, Monstrilloida), with 149 species identified. Other groups include Appendicularia, Chaetognatha (Sagittoidea), Thaliacea, Hydrozoa, Siphonophora, Mollusca, Malacostraca, Echinodermata, Annelida (Polychaeta), Ctenophora, Bryozoa, and meroplanktonic larvae. Taxonomic identifications follow WoRMS nomenclature. class Copepoda class Appendicularia class Sagittoidea class Thaliacea class Hydrozoa class Malacostraca phylum Mollusca phylum Echinodermata phylum Annelida phylum Ctenophora phylum Bryozoa Data transformation and publication were funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe Programme through Grant Agreement No. 101112823 (DTO-BioFlow) and an FSTP grant. The dataset was developed to establish a sustained flow of long-term zooplankton community biodiversity data from the LTER MareChiara station to international data infrastructures, in support of the Digital Twin of the Ocean initiative (DTO-BioFlow). It provides a valuable resource for long-term ecological research, biodiversity assessment, and the development, calibration, and validation of ecosystem models and data-driven simulations in the Mediterranean Sea. unknown Iole Di Capua Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn

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iole.dicapua@szn.it 0000-0003-2959-8977 Zooplankton samples were collected at the fixed LTER station MareChiara (Gulf of Naples, 40.81°N, 14.25°E) aboard the Research Vessel R/V Vettoria. Vertical net tows were performed from 50 m depth to the surface at a retrieval speed of 0.7-1.0 m/s. Two net types were used: an Indian Ocean standard net (mouth area 1 m2, diameter 113 cm, mesh aperture 200 µm) from 26 January 1984 to 2 February 2016, and a WP2 standard net (mouth area 0.25 m2, diameter 57 cm, mesh aperture 200 µm) from 18 February 2016 onwards. Sampling frequency was fortnightly (1984–1991), weekly (1995–2016), and fortnightly to monthly (2016–2024). There is a gap in the time series between 1990 and 1 March 1995. From 2016, a calibrated flowmeter (Hydrobios and MF315) was used to measure filtered water volume; from 1984 to 2016, volume was calculated as V = A x L (net mouth area x tow length). Two samples were collected at each sampling event: one for species composition and abundance analysis, one for whole mesozooplankton biomass. Samples for species analysis were preserved in seawater-formalin solution (approximately 4% formaldehyde buffered with sodium borate) from 1984 to 1998, and in 95% ethanol stored at 4°C from 1998 onwards. Samples were pre-filtered through a 200 µm sieve. Sub-samples were obtained using a Stempel pipette (2-3 replicates of 2.5 or 5 mL), yielding a coefficient of variation of 7-9%. Organisms were counted in a Mini-Bogorov Chamber (10 mL) under a stereomicroscope (Leica M165C). At least 100 specimens of the most abundant taxonomic groups were counted (targeting +/-20% precision at 95% confidence). Rare species found in the remaining sample were noted qualitatively at 0.02 ind. m-3. Zooplankton abundance was expressed as individuals per cubic metre: n x k / V, where n = individuals counted in sub-sample, k = fraction of sample analyzed, V = volume filtered (m3). Taxonomic names were harmonized against the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) using the worrms R package. It combines historical observations (1984–2015) with newly collected data (2016–2024), ensuring temporal continuity and dataset completeness. A new dataset (1984–2020) were migrated from local storage and digitized; data from 2021 onwards were collected via digital survey forms (KoBoToolbox). Processing and archiving were automated via the ZooGoN R package (v3.0.0). Quality control included: inter-operator verification of approximately 5% of samples; regular calibration of optical instruments; flowmeter verification (minimum 120 revolutions per tow) prior to each deployment. The dataset builds upon this legacy by integrating, curating, and harmonizing zooplankton community data collected over four decades at high taxonomic resolution, following a standardized taxonomic backbone (WoRMS). Fixed sampling station MareChiara, Gulf of Naples, Italy, approximately 2 nautical miles offshore, along the ~75 m isobath, at the boundary between eutrophied coastal waters and oligotrophic Tyrrhenian waters. Temporal extent: 26 January 1984 to 12 December 2024. Vertical net tows from 50 m depth to the surface using standardized plankton nets. Iole Di Capua 0000-0003-2959-8977 principalInvestigator The MareChiara Research Program was established in 1984 by the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN) at a fixed station in the Gulf of Naples, Italy. Since 2006 the site has been part of the Long-Term Ecological Research network (LTER-MareChiara, LTER-MC; LTER EU-IT061). The ZOOGoN-40Y dataset integrates zooplankton data collected over four decades (1984–2024), supported by the DTO-BioFlow Financial Support to Third Parties grant under the European Union Horizon Europe Programme, aimed at establishing a sustained flow of biodiversity data to the Digital Twin of the Ocean. European Commission Long-term fixed-station monitoring design. Zooplankton sampled by vertical net tows at a single geographic station (MareChiara, Gulf of Naples) at regular intervals since 1984. Sampling frequency ranged from fortnightly to weekly depending on the period. The dataset covers 1,295 individual sampling tows across 40 years. 2026-05-04T16:33:13.227+00:00 dataset Di Capua I, Marcucci A, Longobardi L (2026). Zooplankton data from LTER MareChiara site in the Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea, (Jan 1984-Dec 2024). Version 1.1. Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt.gbif.it/resource?r=zoogon&v=1.1 614ee357-1329-4d5b-8bb8-b51910224382/v1.1.xml