EELGRASS COPEPOD WEB SITE:
This web site is designed for the student attempting to
identify copepods found on or associated with eelgrass and
macro algae in the Northeast Pacific. The site should
be considered as “under construction” since components will
be frequently upgraded.
Copepods, primarily harpacticoid copepods, are one of the
crustacean groups found on eelgrass. The range of body
types found in these organisms is broad and indicates the
potential for diversity in mobility, attachment to eelgrass,
and feeding types. Hopefully, this web site will
provide not only the tools to identify copepods but also an
introduction into how the animals make a living in an
eelgrass “world”.
For the initial user, it is suggested that the Key to Common Species is the best place to start identification. The branching style key uses body shape and first thoracic leg (P-1) structure almost completely to identify species. The Copepod Species I.D. PDF provides body shape and P-1 structure for the user who wishes to check their identifications. Once tentative identification of a specimen has been obtained, additional details can be found in the Profiles of Species PDFs. An initial attempt has been made to address Factors Causing Variability although additional information is badly needed.
Line drawings by specialists are the most accurate means of identifying species and the nature of body parts. However, the student does not ‘see’ line drawings when looking through a microscope. For that reason, photographs of specimens and body parts are here used as they provide an indication of what the individual sees when looking at a copepod. References to useful publications are provided for most species, in the Copepod Species I.D. PDF.
*Names of copepod species, provided on the web site, are the valid species names found in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS); they often differ from those in the original descriptions.
For an excellent presentation of harpacticoid nature and a key to the families: Huys et al., 1996. Marine and Brackish Water Harpacticoid Copepods (Part 1). Number 51 in Synopses of the British Fauna (NS). Available through the Linnean Society of London.
*An earlier, outstanding paper, provides techniques for studying small copepods:
Arthur G. Humes and Richard U. Gooding, 1964. A Method for Studying the External Anatomy of Copepods, Crustaceana, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 238-240.