Plankton species abundance data collected during R/V Bellows cruise BE-1204 in the DeSoto Canyon, Gulf of Mexico from 2011-09-29 to 2011-09-30 (NCEI Accession 0174500)

This dataset reports counts of plankton taxa from 9 plankton tows conducted during R/V Bellow cruise from September 29 to September 30, 2011. It includes sites, date/times, length of tow, plankton samples, counts, and the percentage of total plankton represented by each group. Plankton are grouped into the following taxa: Ceratium spp., Dinophysis spp., other dinoflagellates, Chaetoceros/Bacteriastrum spp., Rhizosolenia/Guinardia spp., Eucampia/Hemiaulus spp., other chain-forming diatoms, Thalassionematales spp., Nitzschioid diatoms, other diatoms, Cyanobacteria (Trichodesmium spp.), zooplankton. Chain forming diatoms include Campylosira spp., Skeletonema spp., and Paralia spp. Zooplankton includes all crustaceans. Nitzschioid diatoms include Pseudonitzschia spp.