In this paper, we investigate the complex dynamics of a spatial toxic-phytoplankton–zooplankton model with Holling type-II functional response. Through a detailed analytical study of the reaction–diffusion model, we obtain some conditions for local and global stability and for diffusive instability with zero-flux boundary conditions of a positive equilibrium. On the basis of these results, we present the evolutionary processes of pattern formation that involve organism distribution and the interaction of a spatially distributed population with local diffusion. Then, novel numerical evidence of the time evolution of patterns controlled by diffusion and environmental carrying capability in the model are presented, and it is found that the model dynamics exhibits complex pattern replication. Additional studies reveal that pattern formation in the spatially extended model depends on the choice of the initial conditions. These results indicate that the interaction between toxin-producing phytoplankton and zooplankton in marine environments may be partly driven by the forces of diffusion or the environmental carrying capability.