Micronekton consist of crustaceans, cephalopods, gelatinous organisms, and fishes that are 2–20 cm in size (Figure 1). These organisms have unique functional traits that impact their vertical migration patterns and ecosystem processes (Aparecido et al., 2023). Our understanding of their potential carbon transport and sequestration from the epipelagic (upper 200 m) to mesopelagic zones (200–1,000 m) or deeper (e.g., Boyd et al., 2019; Le Moigne, 2019; Cavan et al., 2019) is limited by the tools traditionally used to assess their biomass, diversity, and varied migration patterns (e.g., Annasawmy et al., 2019, 2024; Barbin et al., 2024; Eduardo et al., 2024). These knowledge gaps are notable considering that micronekton are ubiquitous throughout the world ocean.