Corycaeus speciosis
Dana (1849)
Download a fact sheet for Corycaeus speciosus (PDF 540KB)
Taxonomy
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Crustacea |
| Class | Maxillopoda |
| Subclass | Copepoda |
| Order | Cyclopoida |
| Family | Corycaeidae |
| Genus | Corycaeus |
| Species | speciosus |
Size
- Female: 1.37 - 2.55 mm
- Male: 0.75 - 2.00 mm
Distinguishing characters
- Proportional length of urosome somites and caudal rami
- Female prosome points extend beyond genital somite
- Female with long caudal rami compared to other female Corycaeus
- Male with long caudal rami compared to other male Corycaeus
- Male with narrow points on prosome
Male
- Cephalosome and 1st pedigerous somite fused
- Genital and anal somites and caudal rami in the proportional lengths 33:21:46
- Caudal rami 2 times as long as anal somite
- Caudal rami 12 times as long as wide
- Prosome points extend to >1/2 genital somite
- Anal somite >2 times as wide as long and same width over whole length
- Distal corner of inner margin of antenna segment 2 is pointed
Female
- Cephalosome and 1st pedigerous somite partially fused
- Prosome points longer than genital somite
- Divergent caudal rami longer than genital and anal somites combined
- Setae on antenna segment 1, 3 times longer than setae on antenna segment 2
Distribution
- Epipelagic - mesopelagic sometimes bathypelagic
- Tropical, subtropical and temperate; possibly extending into the Subantarctic
- Widespread in Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans
Ecology
- Visual predators using raptorial appendages to capture small prey
- Little is known about the ecology of this species
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