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Ostracoda_WoRMS
Ostracoda Latreille, 1802
EOL Text
The Ostracoda (ostracods) are a group of tiny bivalved (i.e. with a hinged two-part shell) crustaceans that includes both freshwater and marine forms. They are abundant worldwide in virtually all types of aquatic environments and are known to depths of 7,000 m in the sea. Some are commensal on other crustaceans or on echinoderms. Ostracods are mostly between 0.1 and 2.0 mm, but a few are larger (Gigantocypris reaches 32 mm!). Body segmentation is reduced in ostracods relative to most other crustaceans. There are around 13,000 described extant species of ostracods and the group has a rich fossil record going back to the Ordovician (Brusca and Brusca 2003).
Most ostracods are benthic crawlers or burrowers, but many are planktonic suspension-feeders and a few are terrestrial in moist habitats. One species (Sheina orri) is known to be parasitic on fish gills.
(Brusca and Brusca 2003)
Some ostracod species are sexual (producing young from fertilized eggs) and others are asexual (with their offspring developing from unfertlized eggs). Eggs typically are deposited and develop outside the body, but some (especially marine) species have "brood pouches" in which the eggs develop and from which newly hatched nauplii are released. Delorme (2001) provides a detailed account of ostracod biology, with a focus on the freshwater fauna of North America.
- Brusca, R.C. and G.J. Brusca. 2003. Invertebrates, 2nd ed. Sinauer, Sunderland, Massachusetts.
- Delorme, L.D. 2001. Ostracoda. Pp. 811-848 in: Thorp. J.H. and Covich, A.P., eds. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates, 2nd ed. Academic Press, San Diego.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Leo Shapiro, Leo Shapiro |
Source | No source database. |
recent & fossil
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License |
Source | http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1078 |
Animal / parasite / endoparasite
cystacanth of Neoechinorhynchus rutili endoparasitises Ostracoda
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / predator
bladder of Utricularia vulgaris sens.lat. is predator of Ostracoda
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | BioImages, BioImages - the Virtual Fieldguide (UK) |
Source | http://www.bioimages.org.uk/html/Ostracoda.htm |
Ostracoda (Ostracods) is prey of:
Fundulus heteroclitus
Oxyurichthyes lonchotus
Palaemonetes
Eleotris sandwicensis
Haplochromis guentheri
Haplochromis fenestratus
Bathyclarias worthingtoni
Labidochromis vellicans
Labidochromis caeruleus
Haplochromis euchilus
Haplochromis ornatus
Hydropsychidae
Neoperla spio
Barilius microcephalus
Melanochromis melanopterus
Varicorhinus nyasensis
Haplochromis johnstoni
Haplochromis dimidiatus
Engraulicypris sardella
Actinopterygii
Lethrinops brevis
Synodontis zambesensis
Lethrinops
Haplochromis chrysonotus
Coregonus albula
Coregonus lavaretus
Mysidacea
Ostracoda
Euphausiacea
Hyperiidea
Cyclopoida
Calanoida
Chaetognatha
Polychaeta
Haplochromis angustifrons
Cottus bairdii
Eucalia inconstans
Catostomus commersoni
sediment POC
Tadorna tadorna
Numenius arquatus
Pollachius virens
Pholis gunnellus
Zoarces viviparus
Gasterosteus aculeatus
Crangon crangon
Based on studies in:
USA: Rhode Island (Marine)
USA: Hawaii (Swamp)
Malawi, Lake Nyasa (Lake or pond)
Finland (Lake or pond, Littoral)
Uganda, Lake George (Lake or pond)
Pacific (Marine, Tropical)
Canada: Ontario, Mad River (River)
USA: Florida (Estuarine)
Scotland (Estuarine)
Canada: Ontario (River)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- S. W. Nixon and C. A. Oviatt, Ecology of a New England salt marsh, Ecol. Monogr. 43:463-498, from p. 491 (1973).
- G. E. Walsh, An ecological study of a Hawaiian mangrove swamp. In: Estuaries, G. H. Lauff, Ed. (AAAS Publication 83, Washington, DC, 1967), pp. 420-431, from p. 429.
- G. Fryer, The trophic interrelationships and ecology of some littoral communities of Lake Nyasa, Proc. London Zool. Soc. 132:153-281, from p. 218 (1959).
- K. Aulio, K. Jumppanen, H. Molsa, J. Nevalainen, M. Rajasilta, I. Vuorinen, Litoraalin merkitys Pyhajarven kalatuotannolle, Sakylan Pyhajarven Tila Ja Biologinen Tuotanto (Lounais-Suomen Vesiensuojeluyhdistys R. Y., Turku, Finland, 1981) 47:173-176.
- E. A. Shushkina and M. E. Vinogradov, Trophic relationships in communities and the functioning of marine ecosystems: II. Some results of investigations on the pelagic ecosystem in tropical regions of the ocean. In: Marine Production Mechanisms, M. J. Dun
- D. J. W. Moriarty, J. P. E. C. Darlington, I. G. Dunn, C. M. Moriarty and M. P. Tevlin, Feeding and grazing in Lake George, Uganda, Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 184:299-319 (1973).
- W. E. Ricker, 1934. An ecological classification of certain Ontario streams. Univ. Toronto Studies, Biol. Serv. 37, Publ. Ontario Fish. Res. Lab. 49:7-114, from pp. 78, 89.
- W. E. Ricker, 1934. An ecological classification of certain Ontario streams. Univ. Toronto Studies, Biol. Serv. 37, Publ. Ontario Fish. Res. Lab. 49:7-114, from pp. 105-106.
- G. Fryer, The trophic interrelationships and ecology of some littoral communities of Lake Nyasa, Proc. London Zool. Soc. 132:153-281, from p. 217 (1959).
- Christian RR, Luczkovich JJ (1999) Organizing and understanding a winters seagrass foodweb network through effective trophic levels. Ecol Model 117:99124
- Hall SJ, Raffaelli D (1991) Food-web patterns: lessons from a species-rich web. J Anim Ecol 60:823842
- Huxham M, Beany S, Raffaelli D (1996) Do parasites reduce the chances of triangulation in a real food web? Oikos 76:284300
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |
Ostracoda (Ostracods) preys on:
detritus
Aufwuchs
algae
phytoplankton
bacteria
protozoa
Mysidacea
Ostracoda
Euphausiacea
Hyperiidea
decomposer
Bacillariophyceae
Microfauna
POM
Based on studies in:
USA: Rhode Island (Marine)
Malawi, Lake Nyasa (Lake or pond)
Finland (Lake or pond, Littoral)
Pacific (Marine, Tropical)
Uganda, Lake George (Lake or pond)
Canada: Ontario, Mad River (River)
USA: Florida (Estuarine)
Scotland (Estuarine)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- S. W. Nixon and C. A. Oviatt, Ecology of a New England salt marsh, Ecol. Monogr. 43:463-498, from p. 491 (1973).
- G. Fryer, The trophic interrelationships and ecology of some littoral communities of Lake Nyasa, Proc. London Zool. Soc. 132:153-281, from p. 218 (1959).
- K. Aulio, K. Jumppanen, H. Molsa, J. Nevalainen, M. Rajasilta, I. Vuorinen, Litoraalin merkitys Pyhajarven kalatuotannolle, Sakylan Pyhajarven Tila Ja Biologinen Tuotanto (Lounais-Suomen Vesiensuojeluyhdistys R. Y., Turku, Finland, 1981) 47:173-176.
- E. A. Shushkina and M. E. Vinogradov, Trophic relationships in communities and the functioning of marine ecosystems: II. Some results of investigations on the pelagic ecosystem in tropical regions of the ocean. In: Marine Production Mechanisms, M. J. Dun
- D. J. W. Moriarty, J. P. E. C. Darlington, I. G. Dunn, C. M. Moriarty and M. P. Tevlin, Feeding and grazing in Lake George, Uganda, Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 184:299-319 (1973).
- W. E. Ricker, 1934. An ecological classification of certain Ontario streams. Univ. Toronto Studies, Biol. Serv. 37, Publ. Ontario Fish. Res. Lab. 49:7-114, from pp. 78, 89.
- G. Fryer, The trophic interrelationships and ecology of some littoral communities of Lake Nyasa, Proc. London Zool. Soc. 132:153-281, from p. 217 (1959).
- Christian RR, Luczkovich JJ (1999) Organizing and understanding a winters seagrass foodweb network through effective trophic levels. Ecol Model 117:99124
- Hall SJ, Raffaelli D (1991) Food-web patterns: lessons from a species-rich web. J Anim Ecol 60:823842
- Huxham M, Beany S, Raffaelli D (1996) Do parasites reduce the chances of triangulation in a real food web? Oikos 76:284300
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records: | 4,339 | Public Records: | 2,091 |
Specimens with Sequences: | 2,513 | Public Species: | 84 |
Specimens with Barcodes: | 2,123 | Public BINs: | 230 |
Species: | 212 | ||
Species With Barcodes: | 141 | ||
Collection Sites: world map showing specimen collection locations for Ostracoda