| Bryocyclops | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Bryocyclops muscicola | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Copepoda |
| Order: | Cyclopoida |
| Family: | Cyclopidae |
| Genus: | Bryocyclops Kiefer, 1927 |
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. [1]
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 (B. muscicola) and Neotropical realm (B. campaneri and B. rochi) [2] [3] [4] . 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, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa [5] and Christmas Island. In recent years, five new species have been described from caves in Thailand. [6]
As its name suggests, the type species was found in damp mosses. [1] Apart from other microcrustaceans such as cladocerans, ostracods and harpacticoid copepods, only a few genera of cyclopoid copepods have managed to access semiterrestrial habitats like mosses, leaf litter, tree holes, leaf axils, bromeliads and other phytotelmata, or even man-made microhabitats (water-filled tin cans, car tires). [5] [7] These habitats pose serious challenges to fully aquatic organisms, especially since they rely on passive means of dispersal (phoresis [8] ). Species of the genus Bryocyclops also inhabit cave pools, groundwater and other freshwater bodies.
This genus currently contains 26 valid species: [9]
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic, some are benthic, a number of species have parasitic phases, and some continental species may live in limnoterrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds, and puddles, damp moss, or water-filled recesses (phytotelmata) of plants such as bromeliads and pitcher plants. Many live underground in marine and freshwater caves, sinkholes, or stream beds. Copepods are sometimes used as biodiversity indicators.
The Cyclopoida are an order of small crustaceans from the subclass Copepoda. Like many other copepods, members of Cyclopoida are small, planktonic animals living both in the sea and in freshwater habitats. They are capable of rapid movement. Their larval development is metamorphic, and the embryos are carried in paired or single sacs attached to first abdominal somite.
Phytotelma 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.
Acanthocyclops is a genus of copepod crustaceans in the family Cyclopidae. It was originally described by Friedrich Kiefer as a subgenus of Cyclops, and contains the following species:
Afrocyclops is a genus of copepod crustaceans in the family Cyclopidae, containing the following species:
Mesocyclops is a genus of copepod crustaceans in the family Cyclopidae. Because the various species of Mesocyclops are known to prey on mosquito larvae, it is used as a nontoxic and inexpensive form of biological mosquito control.
Metacyclops is a genus of copepod crustaceans in the family Cyclopidae, containing 61 species, of which three are listed on the IUCN Red List – M. campestris from Brazil, M. gasparoi from Italy (vulnerable) and M. postojnae from Slovenia (vulnerable).
Muscocyclops is a genus of copepod crustaceans in the family Cyclopidae, comprising three species found only in South America. Two of the species – Muscocyclops bidentatus Reid, 1987 and Muscocyclops therasiae Reid, 1987 – are endemic to the Distrito Federal in Brazil, and are listed as conservation dependent on the IUCN Red List. The third species is Muscocyclops operculatus.
Tropocyclops is a genus of copepod crustaceans in the family Cyclopidae. It contains the following species:
The Cyclopidae are a family of copepods containing more than half of the 1,200 species in the order Cyclopoida in over 70 genera.
Monstrilloida is an order of copepods with a cosmopolitan distribution in the world's oceans. The order contains a single family, Monstrillidae. The name of the first ever described genus Monstrilla is derived from latin, meaning "tiny monster", because the lack of usual diagnostic features of copepods puzzled early taxonomists.
Cyclops bicuspidatus is a planktonic species of copepod found throughout the world, except Australia, and characteristic of the Great Lakes of North America. It is a deep water species found throughout the year with peak abundance occurring in May or June. Males grow up to 0.8–1.0 millimetre (0.031–0.039 in) long, while females are larger at 0.9–1.6 mm (0.035–0.063 in).
Halicyclops is a genus of copepods belonging to the family Cyclopidae. There are currently 94 described species found in brackish habitats throughout the world:
Gaussia is a genus of copepods. The genus contains bioluminescent species. It is a "characteristic genus of the mesopelagial", occurring at depths of 0–3,000 metres (0–9,843 ft). The genus Gaussia contains the following species:
Mildred Stratton Wilson was an American zoologist, whose work on copepods was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1955.
Microcyclops is a genus of copepods, containing the following species:
Neocalanus plumchrus is a large species of copepod found in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. It was described in 1921 by Marukawa. N. flemingeri was formerly considered as conspecific, likely as a form, until it was split in 1988 by Charles B. Miller.
Cyclops strenuus (Fisher) is a common species of copepod in small water bodies in central Europe.
Mesocyclops longisetus is a species of freshwater copepod in the family Cyclopidae. Two subspecies are accepted, Mesocyclops longisetus curvatus Dussart, 1987, and Mesocyclops longisetus longisetus. It has a neotropical distribution.
Ergasilus curticrus is a freshwater parasitic copepod named in 2015. Described from the Orinoco river basin, it was found solely to be hosted by individuals of the Characiform fish species Bryconops giacopinii. Of those located in South America, it is one of only five species in its genus to be found outside of Brazil.
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