Census of Marine Zooplankton (CMarZ) Steering Group Meeting was held at Institute of Oceanology, CAS (IOCAS) on May 11, 2010. The four-day meeting focused on the discussions of Zooplankton Biodiversity in Southeast Asia, Zooplankton Biodiversity of Polar Seas, Zooplankton Biodiversity of the Open Ocean, Genetic and Biochemical Studies of Zooplankton Diversity, and Data and Information Management for CMarZ. Participants of 22 scientists from the following institutions attended the meeting:
Alfred Wegener Inst. for Polar and Marine Science, Germany
Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo
East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute
Institute of Oceanology, CAS
Marine Biology and Marine Pollution HB/50, India
Mindanao State University-Iligan, Philippines
National Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom
Ocean University of China
Smithsonian Institution /Natural History, USA
University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
University of Connecticut, USA
University Kebangsaan Malaysia
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
CMarZ is one of the field projects of the Census of Marine Life, CoML. It works toward a taxonomically comprehensive assessment of biodiversity of animal plankton throughout the world oceans. The project goal is to produce accurate and complete information on zooplankton species diversity, biomass, biogeographical distribution, genetic diversity, and community structure by 2010. There have been 14 countries joined the project since 2004. CMarZ is steered by the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC), comprised of 23 members, of which Professor Sun Song from IOCAS is a member. The SSC hold meeting annually to guide the scientific strategy of CMarZ.
Since 2004, CMarZ has carried out more than 90 cruises, compiled 6500 samples from over 12000 collecting stations, covering most of the world oceans. So far, 7,066 known species of zooplankton have been documented, 81 new species have been discovered, including 49 species of mysids and 19 species of copepods, which promoted the understanding of marine biological diversity.
China established CMarZ in 2004, Prof. Sun Song from IOCAS is the chair. Since its establishment, it has held two annual meetings, providing an arena to have a broad discussion and scientific exchange on the subjects of plankton, benthos and coral reefs.