Zoological Station. Stazione Zoologica (Zoological Station) in Naples, Italy, the first international marine research institute. The Zoological Station has established an internation- al reputation for its work on the embryology and physiology of marine animals; 52 Nobel prize winners are associated with it. The institute was founded by the German zoologist Anton Dohrn (1840- 1909). In 1865 Dohrn began to plan the founding of a marine research institute. In 1870 he decided to finance such an institute by means of a public aquarium. The city of Naples offered him land and the Zoological Station was opened in 1873.