Indian Journal of Marine Sciences Vol. 28, June 1999, pp. 146-149 Free-living copepods of the Arabian Sea: Distributions and research perspectives M. Madhupratap National Institute of Oceanography, Dona-Paula, Goa 403 004, India Received 5 December 1997; revised 29 January /999 The subclass Copepoda consisL<; of 10 orders and exhibit great diversity in morphology as well as the habitats they occupy. Within the orders themselves, there are sometimes overlaps-some are free living or could be parasitic. There are approximately 11500 known species in this subclass. This paper briefly outlines the distribution, abundances and general feeding habitats of free-living copepods from the Arabian Sea. The role of taxonomy in biodiversity studies, estimates of grazing and production rates of copepods, diap'ause and carbon fluxes through vertical migration and defecation are some problems which need to be addressed from this region. The· members of the subclass Copepoda Milne­ important in fi sheries (as food), maintaining Edwards 1840 (Superclass Crustacea Pennant 1777) regenerated primary production, carbon flux and are one of the most abundant among zooplankton mosquito control. This paper will address the groups. They are the most plentiful multicellular distribution of free-living copepods from the Arabian animals on earth, outnumbering insects, which has Sea and adjacent areas. Some of the future research more species but fewer individuals '·2 . It consists of problems are also briefly discussed. 10 orders viz. Calanoida, Harpacticoida, Cyclopoida, Poecilostomatoida, Siphonostomatoida, Distribution and abundance Monstrilloida, Misophrioida, Mormonilloida, Poecilostomatoida-This order although pre­ Platycopioida and Gelyelloida}·5. They are diverse, dominantly parasitic, have five famjlies (Corycaeida, occurring in marine, esq.larine and freshwater areas. Oncaeidae Paralubbokiidae, Sapphrinidae and They also live in interstitial, subterranean and deep­ Urocopiidae) which are free-living. They are common sea hydrothermal vent habitats ( Table I). in the Arabian Sea7 and may account up to 40% of the The antiquity of modem copepods date back to the total copepods in the upper 2000 m water column. Cretaceous and beyond6. At present there are Many new or unrecorded species were overlooked approximately I 1500 known species of copepods earlier because of the larger mesh size usually belonging to 198 families and 1600 genera2. About employed to collect zooplankton and al so due to one-third of marine copepod species are parasites or paucity of deep-water sampling. Bottger-Schnack7 associated with invertebrate hosts. They mainly found nearly 70 species from the famil y Oncaeidae belong to the orders Monstrilloida, Poecilostomatoida alone from the Arabian Sea as compared to earlier and Siphonostomatoida and may have a partial listings of 4-5 species. Poecilostomatoida are planKtonic life. Species belonging to the famjlies ubiquitous in coastal and offshore waters and the Calanoida, Platycopioida, Gelyelloida, free-living forms appear to be carnivorous. Mormonilloida, Misophrioida, Harpacticoida and Cyclopoida-Cyclopoids are common in marine Cyclopoida are free-living although the last two and estuarine waters and are often dominant in contain a few parasitic species as well5 (similarly freshwater habitat. In the Arabian Sea they may Poecilostomatoida has some free-living species as sometime form up to 20% of the copepods in surface well). layers7.8 and are generally considered as carnivores9 . From an economic point of view, copepods are The order consists of 7 farrulies and about 500 species'o of which the farrulies Cyclopidae (most ly. NIO Contribution No. 2620 freshwater), Cycloipiniuae (coastal) and Oithoind :!~ MADHUPRATAP: FREE LIVING COPEPODS 147 Table I-Evolutionary diversity in some orders of Copepoda5. Names of some of the orders are abbreviated. Calanoida Harpecti- Miso- Monstril- Cyclo- Poecilo- Siphono- coida phrioda loida poida stom stom Habitat Marine P P P P P P P Freshwater R P A A P R P Interstitial A p A A P A A Subre'ITanean R P P A P A A Pelagic P R P P P A R Free-living P P P A P A A Parasi tic or associated A R A P R P P Hyperparasitic A A A A A P P Drought-resistant eggs A P A A P A A Dee- sea+vent R P P A R P P Adaptatiolls to special life cycle Pigmy males, parasitic A A A A A P P _ 4 on females Great sexual dimorphism A A A P A P P Great range in body size A A A A R R P of females Using intermediate host A A A P A R P More than 1 type of male A A A A P A A Only I ovisac A P A A P P P Totals 3P 8P 5P 5P 9P 7P l OP 3R 2R 3R 3R lR A = Absent in the group, P = Present in the group, R = Rare in the group (coastal and oceanic) are free living. In the Arabian exclusively freshwater whereas Acartiidae and Sea, the genera Oithona and Paraoithona are Pseudodiaptomidae are generally specialists in common7 . The species O. oculata seems to be estuarine environment. Madhupratap & Haridasl 'i li sts confined to the atolls of the Lakshdweep8 and is 198 species of calanoids from the epipelagic realms associated with coral reefs elsewhere in the world as of the northern Indian Ocean. Some more are well.· epibenthic forms . Most of them are herbivores Harpacticoida-Members of this order occupy although a few genera I ike Euchaeta and Labidocera diverse niches (interstitial, epibenthic, subterranean, are carnivores. The latter genus seems to be specially deep-sea vent) and a few are pelagic or parasitic5 . adapted to a neustonic life. From the western Indian Th:y also h i ,,' ·J. nges from marine to freshwater and Ocean information on bathypelagic calanoids is the m o :, ~ <lLun dant forms are associated with confined to a Single study 16 . The study identified 3 10 sediments. 111 the pelagics of the Arabian Sea, their species with one new genus. 17 new species, 8 num ers :1 rc usually 10WII , but may form up to 6% of previously unknown males and 1 previously unknown copepod populations l2 . Haridas & Rao l3 listed five female with 78 new records from the Indian Ocean. genera (Macrose{clla, Microsetella, Miracia, M isophrioidn- T here does not seem to be any Clytemnestra and Acgisthus) to be common in the information on this order from the Arabian Sea. This epipelagic Arabian Sea. In addition, the genera group is bel ie ved to have originated in deep-sea Loll gipedia, EuterpinQ , Metis and Distioculus also hyperbenthic habitat and rad iated to colonise ~h allow occur in surface layers while Bathyidia and Tisbe neritic water' and bathypclagic zone of the ocean". It occupy th e bathypelagic zone7• The inbenthic consists of a ~ ill g le fa mil y Misophriidae. harpacti coids from this region need further attention. PlJ-lIycopioidn- This urder is also represented onlY Calalloida-Calanoids are arguably the most by one fami ly (Platycopiidae) and three g~ n e ra and common and abundant planktonic copepods anywhere one of th em is foun d in hyperbenthic environment in in the world oceans and al "o in estuarine and shall ow nerit I e waters 17 The other I wn inhabi t freshwater habitats. It Cl' nsis!s of II superfamilies anchi al ine caves. T herv is no record of this order and 38 families i4 . The family Di aptomidae are from the Arabian Sea. 148 INDIAN J. MAR. SCI. VOL. 28, JUNE 1999 GeLyelloida-This consists of two congeneric may be maintained by inefficient or sloppy species (faniily Gelyellidae) and is a freshwater zooplankton feeding22 . Recent studies23 indicate that inhabitant of subterranean water in Europe17. feeding on some diatoms may actually inhibit Mormonilloida-The genus Mormonilla consists copepod fecundity or egg production. Estimates of of two species viz. minor and phasma and both occur egg production rates are also an indirect tool in in the mesopelagic depths of the Arabian Sea. The calculating secc ndary production24 . These rates will adult male of this genus, probably a non-feeding give us an insi6ht to exploitable fishery. It is also stage, was discovered only recentlyl8. known that many copepods feed on niicrozooplankton or even bacteria (niicrobial loop) and maintain the Research problems biomass during lean phytoplankton regimes25 . The From a taxonomical point, copepods of the mechanisms of this paradox of the Arabian Sea25 that epipelagic habitat of the Arabian Sea and adjacent mesozooplankton biomass in the niixed layer remains waters seem to be well studied, but the meso and more or less constant despite varying phytoplankton bathypelagic residents are poorly understood. The regimes are yet to be quantified. latter is also applicable to the epi or hyper benthic Other challenges which require attentions pertain habitats from where quite a number of new species to vertical distributions and carbon flux. In the have been recently described, from elsewhere in the Arabian Sea, the depths between 150 to 1000 m are world. From an ecological point of view also almost anoxic. How are zooplankton vertical epibenthic forms are important since it was recently migrations affected by this? These mesopelagic demonstrated 19 that zooplankton (mainly depths, however, sustain a turnover of about 100 harpacticoids) densities may exceed 100,000 million tons/year of myctophid (lantern) fishes26 . organisms/ m2 in the sandy bottoms of the lagoons of These fishes exclusively feed on zooplankton and we the Lakshadweep and 80% migrate into the water do not know how such a large biomass is sustained. column at night. The role of taxonomy as a tool in They seem to be specially adapted to the low oxygen biodiversity studies is also evident when we consider concentrations and this may be of evolutionary that 37% of species of copepods were described in significance in escaping from predators.