''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 (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...

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,

Greenland Sea The Greenland Sea ( Danish: ''Grønlandshavet'') 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 Gre ...

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

, and the central Arctic Ocean, and northwestern Pacific, in the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

and the

Chukchi Sea The Chukchi Sea (, ), 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 by the Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, ...

. 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 A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does the ...

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

lipid Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing ...

s before entering

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

, 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 scale, microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine life, marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellul ...

during the spring bloom.

References

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