Holopedium gibberum, cladoceran with gelatinous mantle and eggs in brood pouch, Canadian freshwater lake sample

One of Canada's only full-time professional zooplankton taxonomy services, with decades of continuous experience identifying Cladocera and Copepoda from Canadian freshwater samples.

Every project is handled personally from start to finish — ensuring inter-analyst consistency for long-term monitoring programs.

Only independent taxonomist using ZEBRA2 with custom Python automation, delivering data in customized Excel format.

High-quality digital microscope images of each project are included, at no added cost.

Fully commercially insured.

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IdentaZoop

Canada's specialist in freshwater crustacean zooplankton taxonomy — exclusively

About Me

Hello. My name is Lynne M. Witty. I was bitten by the "taxonomy bug" during my undergraduate thesis, undertaken at Laurentian University, where I focused on the benthic macro-invertebrates of a local lake. After graduating, I enrolled in an Ecosystem Management program at Sir Sandford Fleming College. This was followed by an internship at the International Joint Commission (binational environmental agency).

Upon my return to Greater Sudbury, I was employed as an Aquatic Invertebrate Taxonomist with the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit, housed in the Living with Lakes Centre. Due to the collaborative nature of this group of researchers, I had the opportunity to provide professional taxonomic services for projects ranging from the Great Lakes regions to the Far North of Ontario. From processing zooplankton samples for long-term monitoring programs, to species verification for genetic studies, to participating in Daphnia toxicology research, my focus has always been on producing the highest quality data.

Following my time at the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit, I launched my own consulting business with a Canada-wide client base. I look forward to working with you to create a customized plan of action for your organization.

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Services

Expertise. Dedication. Reliability.

Every project is customized to your specific requirements, with one taxonomist personally handling all processing from start to finish — ensuring consistency, accuracy, and direct communication throughout. IdentaZoop serves Canadian clients exclusively. Due to high demand, processing time fills up several months in advance. Contact me early to secure your place in the queue.

Lynne M. Witty, Zooplankton Taxonomist and owner of IdentaZoop, at the microscope

Sample Processing

Specialized in the identification of Canadian freshwater crustacean zooplankton to species. For decades working for the Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit / Laurentian University, my sample processing and zooplankton taxonomy training supported many research projects. These resulted in publication in many peer-reviewed scientific papers. See my "Supported research" page for a listing of some of these.

Experienced in identifying and assigning attributes to invasive species such as the spiny water flea (Bythotrephes cederstroemii), fishhook water flea (Cercopagis pengoi), and zebra mussel veligers (Dreissena polymorpha).

Biomass processing protocols are based on ZEBRA2, developed for the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation & Parks. This software translates digital caliper measurements of total body lengths into weights based on established length-weight regressions (PDF, page 89) for formalin preserved samples.

For all projects, species and density data are provided to the client in an Excel spreadsheet for each sample. An Excel species list is also created per lake or per year (format is at the client's discretion). Protocols using ZEBRA2 add mean lengths, mean weights, and biomass data and also produce a separate Excel measurement file. These are automatically generated from the raw ZEBRA2 data via custom designed Python scripts.

All projects include a set of high quality digital images taken with a Leica MC170 HD microscope camera (product brochure, PDF), at no added cost.

Client data is regularly backed up in multiple locations to ensure that it is secure, in perpetuity.

Committed to using microscope equipment providing optimal image resolution to ensure accurate species identifications and biomass assessments (i.e., Leica M205C stereomicroscope and Leica MC170 HD microscope camera (product brochure, PDF)).

Dedicated to staying up-to-date on taxonomy research and different protocols used by various research agencies throughout Canada.

Pursuant to the goal of making identifications easier for novices, I produced two practical guides, one for zooplankton and one for benthos. These are available for download below. The zooplankton guide has been widely used worldwide for decades.