Mesocalanus tenuicornis
Dana (1849)
Download a fact sheet for Mesocalanus tenuicornis (PDF 515KB)
Taxonomy
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Maxillopoda |
| Subclass | Copepoda |
| Order | Calanoida |
| Family | Calanidae |
| Genus | Mesocalanus |
| Species | tenuicornis |
Size
- Female: 1.80 - 2.40 mm
- Male: 1.70 - 2.20 mm
Distinguishing characteristics
- P1-P4 without modification or ornamentation
- Smooth inner margin of P5 coxa in both sexes
- Form of P5
Male
- A1 around twice as long as prosome
- P5 only slightly asymmetric
- Left P5 terminal spine of exopod segment 3 almost as long as itfs segment when measured along the outer border
Female
- A1 around twice length of prosome
- Width to length ration of pedigerous somites is equal to or greater than 0.3
- Posterior margin of cephalosome not elevated in lateral view
- 5 swimming legs, all similar
- Urosome somite 2 about 1.25 times longer than somite 3
Distribution
- Epi-, meso- and bathypelagic
- Cosmopolitan
- Pacific , Indian and Atlantic
- Tropical, subtropical and temperate; possibly into subantarctic
Ecology
- Fine particle feeders, probably omnivorous
- Eggs released into water column
- Up to 3 generations per year
- Has been observed in Alaskan waters, so broad temperature (and possibly salinity) tolerance
References
Bradford-Grieve, J. M., E. L. Markhaseva, et al. (1999). Copepoda. South Atlantic Zooplankton. D. Boltovskoy. Leiden, The Netherlands, Backhuys Publishers. 1: 869-1098.
Bradford-Grieve, J. M. (1994). The marine fauna of New Zealand: Pelagic Copepoda: Megacalanidae, Calanidae, Paracalanidae, Mecynoceridae, Eucalanidae, Spinocalanidae, Clausocalanidae. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand.
Dakin, W. J. and Colefax A., (1940). "The plankton of the Australian coastal waters off New South Wales Part I." Publications of the University of Sydney: 210.
Boxshall, G. A. and S. H. Halsey (2004). "An introduction to copepod diversity." Ray Society Publications 166: i-xv, 1-966.
Conway, D. V. P., White, R.G., Hugues-Dit-Ciles, J., Gallienne, C.P. and Robins, D.B. (2003). Guide to the coastal and surface zooplankton of the south-western Indian Ocean, Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Cooney and Coyle (1985)
Corral Estrada J., 1970. - Contribucion al conocimiento del plancton de Canarias. Estudio cuantitativo, sistematico y observaciones ecologicas de nos Copépodos epipelagicos en la zona de Santa Cruz de Tenerife en el curso de un ciclo anual. Publnes Fac. Cienc. Madrid, Seccion de Biol., (A) 129: 1-280.
Razouls C., de Bovée F., Kouwenberg J. et Desreumaux N., 2005-2009. - Diversity and Geographic Distribution of Marine Planktonic Copepods. Available at http://copepodes.obs-banyuls.fr/en
Shmeleva & Kovalev (1974)
Taw, N. (1978). Some common components of the zooplankton of the southeastern coastal waters of Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 112: 69-136.
Z. Zheng, S. Li, S.J. Li & B. Chen in Marine planktonic copepods in Chinese waters. Shanghai Sc. Techn. Press, 1982