Zooplankton Come in Wild Colors and Shapes

TINY ZOOPLANKTON, often juvenile fish, feed on their plantlike cousins, the phytoplankton, at the base of the vast marine food web. Photos from the Cowen Lab show them in their wild and whimsical colorfulness, common names from left:  sea butterfly, blue button jellyfish, lookdown, armored searobin, octopus and surgeon-fish. (Photos: Cedric Guigand)

Pteropod (Photo by Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Pteropod (Photo: Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Blue Button Jellyfish (Photo by Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Blue Button Jellyfish (Photo: Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Selene Vomer (Photo by Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Selene Vomer (Photo: Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Peristediidae (Photo by Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Peristediidae (Photo: Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Octopus (Photo by Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Octopus (Photo: Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Acanthuridae Surgeonfish (Photo by Cedric Guigand/Cowen Lab)
Acanthuridae Surgeonfish (Photo: Guigand/Cowen Lab)