Oithona similis Claus, 1866
The most abundance surface-dwelling copepod of Arctic
Size
- Eggs 0.06 mm
- Females 0.4-0.55 mm prosome, 0.7-1.0 mm total length
- Males smaller
Color & Characteristics
- Body almost completely transparent, red tinting may be present on female urosome (the tail)
- Lipid sac can be prominant
- Urosome (tail) long (40-50% of prosome)
- Antennae longer then prosome, but less than total length
Habitat
- Boreal to arctic waters
- Bipolar
- Abundant on shelves, as well as over deep basins
Feeding
- Microcarnivore feeding on motile phytoplankton and protists, plus copepod nauplii
Life cycle
- Females spawn year-round, less in winter
- Female carries eggs in 2 elongate clutches until hatching
- Clutch size dependent on size of female, with maximums of ~30 and typically ~15-25 eggs
- Generation length unclear, suggested as 1 year for Arctic and multiple gnerations per year in the sub-arctic
- Life expectancy uncertain
Page Author: Russ Hopcroft
Created: November 26, 2009
