''Bryocyclops'' is a genus of freshwater-dwelling cyclopoid copepods. The epithet ''Bryo-'' for Bryophyta (Mosses) refers to the fact that the first few species were described from mosses.

Distribution

Species belonging to this genus are distributed in all major biogeographic realms except Antarctica, although there are only a handful of species from the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

(''B. muscicola'') and

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeo ...

(''B. campaneri'' and ''B. rochi)'.'' Researchers suspect that with increasing sampling efforts, more species will be discovered from these regions. Apart from continental habitats, some species occur on the oceanic islands of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, Fiji,

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

and

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

. In recent years, five new species have been described from caves in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Habitat

As its name suggests, the type species was found in damp mosses. Apart from other microcrustaceans such as

cladocera The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, are a superorder of small crustaceans that feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter (excluding some predatory forms). Over 1000 species have been recognised so far, with many more ...

ns,

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typi ...

s and harpacticoid copepods, only a few genera of cyclopoid copepods have managed to access semiterrestrial habitats like mosses,

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

, tree holes, leaf axils, bromeliads and other

phytotelma Phytotelma (plural phytotelmata) is a small water-filled cavity in a terrestrial plant. The water accumulated within these plants may serve as the habitat for associated fauna and flora. A rich literature in German summarised by Thienemann (19 ...

ta, or even man-made microhabitats (water-filled tin cans, car tires). These habitats pose serious challenges to fully aquatic organisms, especially since they rely on passive means of dispersal (

phoresis Phoresis or phoresy is a non-permanent, commensalistic interaction in which one organism (a phoront or phoretic) attaches itself to another (the host) solely for the purpose of travel. Phoresis has been observed directly in ticks and mites s ...

). Species of the genus ''Bryocyclops'' also inhabit cave pools, groundwater and other freshwater bodies.

Species

This genus currently contains 26 valid species: * ''Bryocyclops (Palaeocyclops) jankowskajae'' Monchenko, 1972 * ''Bryocyclops absalomi'' Por, 1981 * ''Bryocyclops africanus'' Kiefer, 1932 * ''Bryocyclops ankaratranus'' Kiefer, 1954 * ''Bryocyclops anninae'' (Menzel, 1926) * ''Bryocyclops apertus'' Kiefer, 1935 * ''Bryocyclops asetus'' Watiroyram, 2018 * ''Bryocyclops bogoriensis'' (Menzel, 1926) * ''Bryocyclops campaneri'' Rocha & Bjornberg, 1987 * ''Bryocyclops caroli'' Bjornberg, 1985 * ''Bryocyclops chappuisi'' Kiefer, 1928 * ''Bryocyclops constrictus'' Lindberg, 1950 * ''Bryocyclops correctus'' Kiefer, 1960 * ''Bryocyclops difficilis'' Kiefer, 1935 * ''Bryocyclops elachistus'' Kiefer, 1935 * ''Bryocyclops fidjiensis'' Lindberg, 1954 * ''Bryocyclops jankowskajae'' Monchenko, 1972 * ''Bryocyclops maewaensis'' Watiroyram, Brancelj & Sanoamuang, 2012 * ''Bryocyclops maholarnensis'' Watiroyram, Brancelj & Sanoamuang, 2015 * ''Bryocyclops mandrakanus'' Kiefer, 1954 * ''Bryocyclops muscicola'' (Menzel, 1926) * ''Bryocyclops muscicoloides'' Watiroyram, 2018 * ''Bryocyclops parvulus'' Kiefer, 1928 * ''Bryocyclops phyllopus'' Kiefer, 1935 * ''Bryocyclops trangensis'' Watiroyram, 2018 * ''Bryocyclops travancoricus'' Lindberg, 1947

Gallery

File:Bryocyclops asetus (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 2.jpg, alt=Bryocyclops asetus female, ''Bryocyclops asetus'' female File:Bryocyclops asetus (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 6.jpg, alt=Bryocyclops asetus male, ''Bryocyclops asetus'' male File:Bryocyclops asetus (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 3.jpg, alt=Bryocyclops asetus female, ''Bryocyclops asetus'' female File:Bryocyclops asetus (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 7.jpg, alt=Bryocyclops asetus male, ''Bryocyclops asetus'' male File:Bryocyclops asetus (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 12 (cropped).jpg, alt=Bryocyclops asetus female, ''Bryocyclops asetus'' female with egg clutches File:Bryocyclops muscicola (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 9.jpg, alt=Bryocyclops muscicola female, ''Bryocyclops muscicola'' female File:Bryocyclops muscicola (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 10.jpg, alt="Bryocyclops muscicola" male, ''Bryocyclops muscicola'' male File:Bryocyclops muscicola (10.3897-zookeys.793.25005) Figure 11.jpg, alt=Bryocyclops muscicola female, ''Bryocyclops muscicola'' female

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6555225 Cyclopidae Cyclopoida genera