Clausocalanus minor
Sewell (1929)
Download a fact sheet for Clausocalanus minor (PDF 410KB)
Taxonomy
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Maxillopoda |
| Subclass | Copepoda |
| Order | Calanoida |
| Family | Clausocalanidae |
| Genus | Clausocalanus |
| Species | minor |
Size
- Female: 1.08 - 1.26 mm
- Male: 0.79 - 1.04 mm
Distinguishing characteristics
- Form of seminal receptacle, dorsal lobe conspicuous in lateral and ventral view and directed obliquely posteriad
- Prosome : Urosome ratio
Male
- Longer ramus of P5 and genital pore on left side
- Left P5 longer than urosome, armed distally with slender, straight setae
- Right P5 2 or 3-segmented, distal segments usually large
- Body and rostrum in lateral view similar to C. Farrani
Female
- Rostrum slender and curved ventroposteriad
- Ventral profile of genital somite stepped posterior to genital pore
- Terminal points of P5 segment 3 divergent and always spinulose on inner margins
- Prosome:urosome ratio 2.64-3.07:1
- Genital somite more than 1.5x as long as urosome somite 3
- Dorsal lobe of seminal receptacle in lateral view conspicuous; a second lobe present anterior and medial to the dorsal lobe
- Dorsal lobe of seminal receptacle in ventral view conspicuous and directed obliquely posteriad
- Caudal rami as long as wide
Distribution
- Epipelagic, oceanic waters
- Tropical
- Confined to Indian and Pacific oceans
Ecology
- Generally herbivorous – omnivorous
- Feeding strategy is to rapidly explore small volumes of water
- Little known about ecology of this species
References
Boxshall, G. A. and S. H. Halsey (2004). "An introduction to copepod diversity." Ray Society Publications 166: i-xv, 1-966.
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.
Frost B, Fleminger A (1968). A revision of the genus Clausocalanus (Copepoda: Calanoida) with remarks on distributional patterns in diagnostic characters. Bulletin of Scripps Institution of Oceanography 12:1-235
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