Image Key > Copepoda > Calanoida > Acartiidae > Acartia tranteri
Acartia tranteri
Bradford 1976
Taxonomy
| Phylum |
Arthropoda |
| Subphylum |
Crustacea |
| Class |
Maxillopoda |
| Subclass |
Copepoda |
| Order |
Calanoida |
| Family |
Acartiidae |
| Genus |
Acartia |
Size
- Male: 0.90-1.00 mm.
- Female: 0.97-1.11 mm.
Distinguishing characteristics
- Cigar-shaped body.
- Rounded edges on prosome posteriorly.
- Naupliar eye very prominent.
- Colour: transparent to dark grey when alive.
- Often very abundant in samples and can be differentiated from the equally common Paracalanus indicus by narrower body shape, and the serrated margin of the terminal spine of the exopodite of the 1st to 4th legs (Bradford 1976, McKinnon et al. 1992).
Male
- Posterior metasome has both dorsal and ventral spines.
Female
- Posterior metasome has 4-7 dorsal spines.
- Genital swelling on the first urosomal segment appears anteriorly placed in lateral and dorsal views.
Distribution
-
Common epipelagic species found in estuarine, inshore coastal,coastal and oceanic waters. Derwent River estuary (Ong 1967), south eastern Australian waters (Dakin and Colefax 1933, 1940), New Zealand (Jillett 1971, Bradford 1972).
Ecology
- Very common in near-shore plankton and often dominates samples collected from regions with high particulate load (Kimmerer and McKinnon 1985, Swadling and Bayly 1997).
- A filter-feeder that is able to cope with high levels of detritus, and most likely feeds on both phytoplankton and small zooplankton.
- Very common in estuaries, indicating a strong tolerance for fluctuations in salinity and temperature.
- Able to reproduce year-round, with overlapping generations, if sufficient food is available.
- Development is nearly constant throughout life (Miller 1977, Landry 1983).
Additional notes
- Referred to as Acartia clausii in earlier publications (e.g. Dakin and Colefax 1940, Nyan Taw, 1975).
|
