Underwater Video Imaging Systems to Study Zooplankton Abundance and Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities

Underwater zooplankton video imaging systems have been reviewed in the context of their
\ndevelopment, methods, and applications, with a more detailed focus on systems that have appeared in
\nthe last five years. Three notable trends are observed: 1) reduction in the size and price of systems;
\n2) transition from expensive equipment and licensed software to free hardware and software; 3) expanding
\nthe capabilities of systems to be applicable both in the laboratory and in the field. Extraction of ecological
\nand biological information from underwater videos is greatly facilitated by a variety of machine learning
\ntechniques; however, their accuracy is highly dependent on the quality of the training datasets. A new
\noptic-fluorescent flow-through system for zooplankton assessment (ZooFluoBox) is presented to expand
\nthe range of the parameters measured by underwater imaging instruments and enhance the control of
\nturbulent and light conditions during video recording. Fluorescence detection allows distinguishing
\nbetween eating and non-eating zooplankters: diapausing or dead and live ones. The system is designed
\nto profile zooplankton abundance and depth distribution, mostly in inland waters, as its depth limit is
\n60 m and object size limit is 5 mm