Agetus flaccus
Giesbrecht (1891)
Download a fact sheet for Agetus flaccus (PDF 438KB)
Taxonomy
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Maxillopoda |
| Subclass | Copepoda |
| Order | Cyclopoida |
| Family | Corycaeidae |
| Genus | Agetus |
| Species | flaccus |
Size
- Female: 1.20 - 1.89 mm
- Male: 1.15 - 1.68 mm
Distinguishing characters
- Proportional length of urosome somites and caudal rami
- Female genital somite with knob like protuberance
- Distinct form of female caudal rami
Male
- Cephalosome fused to 1st pedigerous somite
- Eye lenses separate
- Antenna, inner margin of 2nd basal joint has no large tooth, finely serrated
- Genital somite 1.5 times as long as wide
- Anal somite wider at proximal than distal margin
- Caudal rami 7times as long as wide
Female
- Cephalosome separated from 1st pedigerous somite
- Cephalosome1.8 times as long as wide
- Urosome and caudal rami in the proportional lengths 4:3
- Genital somite 1.5 times as long as wide, with a small rounded protuberance on the mid-dorsal of the somite, lateral margins furnished with short hairs
- Inner marginal caudal rami seta is the longest and is flanged
Distribution
- Epipelagic
- Coastal and oceanic
- Widespread in tropics and subtropics of Indian, Pacific and Atlantic
Ecology
- Visual predators using raptorial appendages to capture small prey
- Inhabits the layer below the thermocline in summer
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.
- Dahl, M. (1912). Die Copepoden der Plankton-Expedition. I. Die Corycaeinen. Mit Berucksichtigung aller bekannten Arten bearb. (Ergebnisse der Plankton-Exp. Bd II. G. f. 1.).@@Pages: (iv + 136) @
- Tanaka, O. (1957[1959]). On copepoda of the family Corycaeidae in Japanese waters 1957. Contx Dep Fish Kyushu Univ 3