World of Copepods
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Copepod ( Kope = Greek for "oar" Podos = Greek for "foot")
Hence Copepod = oar-footed, referring to the pair of swimming legs on the same somite that are moved together, like the oars of a sculling shell
Sapphirina auronitens
Claus, 1863
Pontellina plumata
Dana, 1849
Copilia vitrea
(Haeckel, 1864)
Oncaea venusta
Philippi, 1843(photos from Giesbrecht 1892) This Web Page Contains 5 Databases
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALL KNOWN COPEPOD AND BRANCHIURA LITERATURE
What is a copepod?
These aquatic crustaceans are very diverse and are the most numerous metazoans in the water community ("metazoan" means all multi-celled animals). Copepod habitats range from fresh water to hypersaline conditions, from subterranean caves to water collected in bromeliad leaves or leaf litter on the ground and from streams, rivers, and lakes to the sediment layer in the open ocean. Their habitats also range from the highest mountains to the deepest ocean trenches, and from the cold polar ice-water interface to the hot active hydrothermal vents. Copepods may be free-living, symbiotic, or internal or external parasites on almost every phylum of animals in water. The usual length of adults is 1-2 mm, but adults of some species may be as short as 0.2mm and others may be as long as 10mm.
Ecologically they are important links in the food chain linking microscopic algal cells to juvenile fish to whales. Copepods also have the potential to act as control mechanisms for malaria by consuming mosquito larvae, and contrariwise are intermediate hosts of many human and animal parasites.
Branchiura (commonly referred to as sea lice) are also included with the Copepoda, since many copepod researchers also study these parasites of fish.
THE WILSON COPEPOD LIBRARY
The bibliographic database was developed and is maintained by staff of the C.B. Wilson Copepod Library, and contains all the known literature for copepods and branchiurans. Currently, over 44,700 bibliographic enteries on copespods are in the database. Current staff organizing the day to day operations of this Library are T. Chad Walter, Frank D. Ferrari, and Lana Ong. Janet Reid also provides significant input into this web site. We gratefully accept donations of literature on all aspects of the Copepoda, and request that you send us a copy of all your future publications. Also check Researchers page and see if your data is correct and send us any updates.
PLEASE SEND YOUR REPRINTS TO :
WILSON COPEPOD LIBRARY
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
DEPT. OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY
P.O. BOX 37012 MRC -163
WASHINGTON, DC 20013-7012
The Subclass Copepoda is comprised of 9 Orders: Calanoida Cyclopoida Gelyelloida Harpacticoida Misophrioida Monstrilloida Mormonilloida Platycopioida Siphonostomatoida There are over 210 described families, 2,400 genera and 24,000 described species (both valid and invalid, including senior and junior synonyms) Poecilostomatoida [Boxshall & Halsey, 2004: 37, placed it into Cyclopoida] The Class Branchiura is comprised of 1 Family and 4 Genera Argulus Chonopeltis Dipteropeltis Dolops Below are a few other sites dealing with Copepods:
[ use your web search engines and search on copepod* for additional sites]
To subscribe to the Copepod List Serve and join in discussions of strategic and key issues in the wide range of copepod research, send an email message with your name and address to:
10th International Conference on Copepoda (ICOC) 2008 in Thailand
