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Making ocean life count

Dolioletta gegenbauri, a planktonic colonial tunicate that filters phytoplankton to eat, is about two inches (5 centimeters) long. This species was one of many collected in deep water during a Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) cruise in 2006 off the U.S. east coast. CMarZ is part of the larger project, Census of Marine Life — a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans.

(Photo by Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)