Zooplankton sample inventory for Northeast U.S. Shelf Long Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) Transect cruises, ongoing since 2018

This dataset provides an inventory of physical samples collected from zooplankton bongo and/or ring net tows conducted during the Northeast U.S. Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) Transect cruises, ongoing since 2018. The NES-LTER transect, located south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, comprises standard stations L1-L11 and extends 150 km offshore. Dedicated NES-LTER cruises target all four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. Samples are collected via oblique tows with a 61-cm bongo net fitted with 150- and 335-micron mesh nets, as well as a ring net with a 20-micron mesh net. During earlier spring and fall cruises along the NES-LTER Transect, in collaboration with the Ocean Observatories Initiative, samples were collected through vertical tows using a ring net with a 150-micron mesh. Samples collected are distributed among various laboratories for DNA metabarcoding, stable isotopes analysis, and morphological identification.