The Observatoire of Villefranche sur Mer supports the daily sampling of zooplankton since 1966 at a time series station located at the entrancy of the Bay of Villefranche sur Mer. Samples were collected by a horizontal tow at 5 layers, using a Regent net. The sampling site is located at the mouth of the Bay over a bathymetry of 80m and is thus open to the Ligurian Sea. Zooplankton abundance was counted by specialist at OOV under microscopes.

The direct or indirect influence of a river plume on meiofaunal abundance and community composition was investigated in the North Adriatic Sea (NW Mediterranean Sea).