Zooplankton data from LTER MareChiara site in the Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea, (Jan 1984-Dec 2024)

Data Records

The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 1,295 records.

2 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

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

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 614ee357-1329-4d5b-8bb8-b51910224382.  Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Italy.

Keywords

Samplingevent; zooplankton; LTER; Mediterranean; time series; copepoda; biodiversity; Naples Gulf; Digital Twin of the Ocean; Observation

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

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.

Taxonomic Coverage

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.

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

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.

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

Vertical net tows from 50 m depth to the surface using standardized plankton nets.

Method step description:

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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).
4. 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).

Additional Metadata