Expanded Marine Taxonomic Libraries for the FlowCam

Expanded Marine Taxonomic Libraries for the FlowCam

After fielding many requests from FlowCam users, we are happy to announce that we have made available expanded taxonomic libraries. These example libraries illustrate some common genera found in Casco Bay (in the Gulf of Maine) and show examples of how users may organize libraries for their own unique area. The 42 libraries cover 37 different taxa.

The updates include:

  • Updated taxonomy for Ceratium

  • New genera including Pseudo-nitzschia, Favella, Detonula

  • New library guide with expanded descriptions and taxonomic information

FlowCam users can download existing freshwater libraries too.

Click here to see a description of the current libraries.

These example libraries are designed to help users start to identify some common genera and to offer examples of ways to organize your own libraries*. Community composition and morphology will vary based on your geography, environmental conditions, and context settings. 

Contact us to request a download of the VisualSpreadsheet library files and instructions for how to use them, or to offer feedback for improvement.

Do you have libraries from your own region that you would like to share with other FlowCam users? Please use the button above to let us know what you would like to contribute. Libraries will be reviewed for quality and contributors will be acknowledged in future updates.

*FlowCam is not a tool designed for speciation. The marine libraries were collected on the FlowCam 8400 in autoimage mode, and freshwater libraries were collected on the FlowCam Cyano in autoimage and trigger mode. Both sets of libraries used a 10X objective, 100 µm field of view flow cell, and standard aquatic context settings.

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