Is this some sort of Copepod?

dariuskersulis · Post by **dariuskersulis** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:48 am

Is this is some sort of Copepod? I found it in brackish local pond. The water was teeming with them. This image might not be the best for identification but from the top it clearly has 4 thick limbs, like the one you see sticking out.

Still working out the flash situation but it was pressed against cover glass so it barely moved and 1/125 at ISO100 was sufficient for sharp image. This is two frame stack (one for the body, the other for limbs) joined with Photoshop using mask layer.

Nikon 20x DIC Plan Achromat, Canon T3i, 1/125 ISO100

Peter M. Macdonald · Post by **Peter M. Macdonald** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:19 am

Nice picture. Looks to me like a Cladoceran, rather than a Copepod. See, for example, http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... ht=daphnia where there is a nice set of pictures showing the anatomy of one of the commonest western European species, Daphnia pulex. So common, that it even has a vernacular name - the water flea, even although they are not fleas.

Peter

dariuskersulis · Post by **dariuskersulis** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:24 am

Thank you Peter. I've seen the water fleas and this could be similar but it looked very differently though. I still have the water with them and I'll try to more pictures, perhaps from the back/front.

Wim van Egmond · Post by **Wim van Egmond** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:15 pm

Hello Darius,

Very beautiful picture! It is a larval stage of a copepod.

Wim

dariuskersulis · Post by **dariuskersulis** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:59 pm

Oh cool, thanks Wim. Just got back from another pond with my son. I definitely see in this 3 liter aquarium a lot of adult Copepods, some Daphnia, and probably some surprises.