Acartia
This record describes Acartia (genus). Recorded family: Acartiidae. Recorded order: Calanoida.
Identification and Appearance
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Maxillopoda
- Order
- Calanoida (Calanoid copepods)
- Family
- Acartiidae
- Genus
- Acartia
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
About Calanoid copepods: the wider group
Order-level background for Calanoida, the group containing Acartia. Species-specific details appear above.
Group overview
Calanoida includes ~2,700 described species of planktonic copepods. By some estimates, copepods are the most abundant multicellular animals on Earth - their total biomass exceeds that of all other zooplankton combined.
Ecological role of the group
Copepods transfer energy from microscopic phytoplankton to larger animals. They perform the largest animal migration on Earth daily - billions rise from deep water to surface at dusk and descend at dawn (diel vertical migration), moving carbon to the deep ocean.
Economic and practical significance of the group
Calanoid copepods are the foundation of marine food webs - they are the primary food of larval fish, small fish, and baleen whales. Without copepods, most commercial fisheries would collapse.
Recorded sources for this group: Marine biology, oceanography, carbon cycle research. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.