''Calanus glacialis'' is an Arctic

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

found in the north-western Atlantic Ocean, adjoining waters, and the northwestern Pacific and its nearby waters. It ranges from sea level to in depth. Females generally range from about in length, and males generally range from about in length.

Description

''C. glacialis'' females generally range from about in length, and males generally range from about in length.

Habitat and distribution

This copepod is found in the northwestern Atlantic, the adjoining waters of the

Gulf of St. Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence () is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about and containing about of water, at an average depth of . ...

Greenland Sea The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as p ...

, Barents Sea, Norwegian Sea, and the central Arctic Ocean, and northwestern Pacific, in the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...

and the

Chukchi Sea Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west b ...

. It ranges from sea level to in depth.

Ecology

Reproduction and lifecycle

Depending on the conditions, it has a one to three year lifecycle. There are six nauplii and copepodite stages. Eggs are laid during the spring, with clutches typically being 40 to 80 eggs. During the summer, when temperatures are below , it takes about 46 days to go from an egg to a stage I copepodite. The other stages are mainly gone through during the summer. During the autumn, it accumulates lipids before entering diapause, usually as a stage IV or V copepodite. During mid-winter, stage V copepodites develop into females. When breeding, ''C. glacialis'' can follow multiple strategies. When found in ice-covered areas, it uses the ice algae bloom to fuel reproduction. This is consistent with a strategy of income breeding, where resources collected during breeding are used to pay for it. When in primarily ice-free areas without an early ice algae bloom, it instead relies on previously collected resources to breed, making it a capital breeder in these cases. In both scenarios, the young take advantage of the phytoplankton bloom.

Feeding

''C. glacialis'' is a filter-feeder, mainly feeding on

microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellular species which exist indiv ...

during the spring bloom.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6552304 Calanoida Crustaceans described in 1955