View your list of saved words. (You can log in using Facebook.)
Copepods (Temora)—Douglas P. Wilson Any of the 10,000 known
species of crustaceans in the subclass Copepoda. Copepods are
widely distributed and ecologically important, serving as food
for many species of fish. Most species are free-living marine
forms, found from the sea's surface to great depths. Some live
in freshwater or in damp vegetation; others are parasites. Most
species are 0.02–0.08 in. (0.5–2 mm) long. The largest species,
a parasite of the fin whale, grows to a length of about 13 in.
(32 cm). Unlike most crustaceans, copepods have no carapace.
Nonparasitic forms feed on microscopic plants or animals or even
on animals as large as themselves. Members of the genus Cyclops
(order Cyclopoida) are called water fleas. See alsoguinea worm.
This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the
full entry on copepod, visit Britannica.com.