Ryo Minemizu, one of Japan’s emerging stars in the field of marine life photography and the 2017 winner of the Nikkei National Geographic photography prize, captures the beauty and complexity of plankton that drift in our planet’s oceans and other bodies of water in meticulous detail. Here: The paddle of a Lysmata zoea larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





Batesian mimicry by a Soleichthys fish larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





A Eplumula phalangium megalopa larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





A Dendrochirus fish larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





A tripod fish larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





A Pleurobranchaea larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





A Macgillivryia snail larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





An acorn worm larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





A deepwater carrier crab megalopa larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





A Hoplichthys fish larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





An uknown Gymnapogon larva. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)





Hyperiidea on Nausithoe jellyfish. (Photo by Ryo Minemizu/The Guardian)