Clausidium vancouverense

Clausidium vancouverense, the red copepod, is a symbiont of the ghost shrimp Neotrypaea californiensis.[1] It is one of six species in the genus Clausidium and is found with its host in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California.[2]

Clausidium vancouverense
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Copepoda
Order: Cyclopoida
Family: Clausidiidae
Genus: Clausidium
Species:
C. vancouverense
Binomial name
Clausidium vancouverense
Haddon, 1912

Description

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Females range in length from 1.086–1.222 millimetres (0.043–0.048 in). The female is larger than the male, and a female sometimes carries a male attached to her dorsal thorax.[3]

Several features separate this copepod from other species in its genus. These include the blade-like seta on the first leg and the small lateral hairs on the setae of the fifth leg on females. In males, the structure of the maxilliped is unique.

Ecology

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Copepod distribution of a similar species Clausidium dissimile on ghost shrimp were positively correlated to the host's body size,[4] but host sex did not affect distribution.[5] C. vancouverense sticks to the branchial cavity of its host via suckers.

References

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  1. ^ A. D. Humes (1949). "A new copepod (Cyclopoida: Clausidiidae) parasitic on mud shrimps in Louisiana". Transactions of the American Microscopical Society. 68 (2): 93–103. doi:10.2307/3223256. JSTOR 3223256. PMID 18153316.
  2. ^ "Online Field Guide". Monterey Bay Aquarium. Archived from the original on May 24, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2008.
  3. ^ Charles Branch Wilson (1935). "Parasitic copepods from the Pacific coast". American Midland Naturalist. 16 (5): 776–797. doi:10.2307/2420107. JSTOR 2420107.
  4. ^ Sandra L. Marin & Mario George-Nascimento (1975). "Tamaño corporal y hábitat del nape Callianassa garthi Retamal, 1975 (Crustacea: Thalassinidea) como factores que afectan la distribución y abundancia del copépodo Clausidium sp. (Cyclopoida)" [Host body size and habitat as factors affecting the distribution and abundance of the copepod Clausidium sp. (Cyclopoida), ectosymbiont of the ghost shrimp Callianassa garthi Retamal, 1975 (Crustacea: Thalassinidea)] (PDF). Revista Chilena de Historia Natural (in Spanish). 66: 427–437.
  5. ^ J. L. Corsetti & K. M. Strasser (2003). "Host selection of the symbiotic copepod Clausidium dissimile in two sympatric populations of ghost shrimp". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 256: 151–159. doi:10.3354/meps256151.