Euchaetidae

Euchaetidae is a family of marine copepods.[1] The family is cosmopolitan and occurs in all the oceans, including the Southern and Arctic Oceans.[2][3] Euchaetidae are medium to large-sized copepods.[4]

Euchaetidae
Euchaeta marina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Hexanauplia
Order: Calanoida
Family: Euchaetidae
Giesbrecht, 1893
Genera
  • Euchaeta Philippi, 1843
  • Paraeuchaeta Scott, 1909

Genera

There are two genera with in total 114 species:[1]

  • Euchaeta Philippi, 1843 – 16 species
  • Paraeuchaeta Scott, 1909 – 98 species

Ecology

Euchaeta are mostly epipelagic whereas Paraeuchaeta are mostly bathypelagic.[2] Where more than one species occurs, congeneric species (or life stages of a single species, as observed for Paraeuchaeta antarctica) may partition the water column, whereas species representing different genera that occur at similar depths differ in dietary preferences.[3]

Paraeuchaeta can be important predators of fish larvae. Their mode of predation is "drift and wait". The dominant euchaetid in the Southern Ocean is Paraeuchaeta antarctica. It is a dominant predator there, and its fatty acid profile suggests that it mostly preys upon herbivorous calanid copepods. In the Weddell Sea, it contributes as much as 11–18% to total mesozooplankton biomass.[3]

Life cycle

Paraeuchaeta antarctica has a one-year life-cycle around the Kerguelen Islands.[3]

References

  1. Walter TC, Boxshall G, eds. (2021). "Euchaetidae Giesbrecht, 1893". World of Copepods database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  2. Park, Taisoo (1993). "Taxonomy and distribution of the marine calanoid copepod family Euchaetidae". Bulletin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 29: 1–203.
  3. Laakmann, Silke; Stumpp, Meike & Auel, Holger (2009). "Vertical distribution and dietary preferences of deep-sea copepods (Euchaetidae and Aetideidae; Calanoida) in the vicinity of the Antarctic Polar Front". Polar Biology. 32 (5): 679–689. doi:10.1007/s00300-008-0573-2.
  4. Ward, Peter & Wood, Andrew G. (1988). "The distribution of the Euchaetidae (Copepoda: Calanoida) around South Georgia". Polar Biology. 9 (1): 45–52. doi:10.1007/BF00441763.
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