copepod
Sign in to saveCopepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthic (living on the sediments), several species have parasitic phases, and some continental species may live in limnoterrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds, puddles, damp moss, or water-filled recesses of plants (phytotelmata) such as bromeliads and pitcher plants. Many live underground in marine and freshwater c
AI overview
Copepods are tiny crustaceans with oar-like feet that live in nearly every water environment on Earth, from oceans and rivers to puddles and swamps, with some species also inhabiting damp soil and wet plant structures. They matter because their wide distribution and abundance across diverse aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats make them fundamental to many ecosystems, though some species can also parasitize other organisms.
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Article
17 sectionsContents
- Classification and diversity
- Characteristics
- Behavior
- Diet
- Life cycle
- Biophysics
- Ecology
- Copepods as parasitic hosts
- Evolution
- Practical aspects
- In marine aquaria
- Water supplies
- Incidental, religious curiosities
- In popular culture
- See also
- References
- External links
Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthic (living on the sediments), several species have parasitic phases, and some continental species may live in limnoterrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds, puddles, damp moss, or water-filled recesses of plants (phytotelmata) such as bromeliads and pitcher plants. Many live underground in marine and freshwater caves, sinkholes, or stream beds. Copepods are sometimes used as biodiversity indicators.
==Classification and diversity== Copepods are assigned to the class Copepoda within the superclass Multicrustacea in the subphylum Crustacea. An alternative treatment is as a subclass belonging to class Hexanauplia. They are divided into 10 orders. Some 13,000 species of copepods are known, and 2,800 of them live in fresh water.