Harpacticoid Copepod Sp? Need second opinion.

[AlexG]

During my night time viewing I have been seeing lots of small critters on my frag tank glass I was not seeing over the last few months. I thought it was another ostracod species and I wanted to get them under the microscope. I was having difficulty getting them into a petri dish because they would not come off the glass. Turkeybaster was a fail they would not dislodge from the glass. Finally with a razor blade I got a couple to crawl off the glass and onto the blade. They are like little suction cups. I believe they are a Harpacticoid Copepod Sp but I would like to get a second opinion.

 

[stanleo]

Fascinating. I would still limit your search to ostracods. They are a class that is just as diverse if not more so than copepods and I still think that's what you have here. As soon as I saw the pic I thought ostracod but that is weird that it was stuck to the glass like that.

 

[AlexG]

I don't believe this is an ostracod since the body of the organism is not enclosed by two valves. I have other ostracods living in my aquarium and they all have the two valves that make it look like a clam shell.

Ostracod Pictures

 

[stanleo]

You might be right. Your's looks identical to the picture on this list I was just looking at. It's funny though that this is the only place I have found that has a pic of a copepod that looks like yours. All the other pics I see of copepods have a tail that is almost equal to the body. And from what I have been reading ostracods do not typically have a well defined thorax and you yours clearly does. I love all this microfauna stuff in the tanks.

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