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Optical–digital system applied to the identification of five phytoplankton species

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Abstract

An optical–digital system was used to identify five phytoplankton species of the genus Ceratium from Todos Santos Bay off the California Peninsula, Mexico. The system recognized species with at least 90% accuracy, regardless of their size, rotation, or location within the field of view. An optical filter was constructed for each species for correlation with each of six test images. The test images were prepared from phytoplankton samples containing one or more of the five species. The correlations demostrate that each optical filter recognized its corresponding species. To evaluate the effectiveness of the correlation technique, we used images of 100 different samples. The species of the Ceratium genus analyzed are important indicators, since some are responsible for red-tide blooms in areas surrounding Todos Santos Bay, Baja California, Mexico. In the near future, based on the method proposed, we plan to implement an automated plankton-identification system to determine marine eco-biological properties.

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Received: 9 June 1997 / Accepted: 3 June 1998

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Pech-Pacheco, J., Alvarez-Borrego, J. Optical–digital system applied to the identification of five phytoplankton species. Marine Biology 132, 357–365 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002270050402

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002270050402

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