Maintenance and culture of copepods

Santhosh, B (2026) Maintenance and culture of copepods. In: Training Manual on Marine Fish Hatchery Management and Culture. CMFRI Training Manual Series No.72/2026 . ICAR- Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, pp. 42-48.

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Abstract

Copepods are the most common planktonic crustaceans that occur in almost all kinds of water bodies on the earth’s surface. There are more than 210 families, 2400 genera and 24,000 species identified in this group. Planktonic copepods are considered to be the most abundant metazoans on earth. From the Lower Cretaceous period onwards, these groups were diversified and adapted to almost all kinds of aquatic habitats and successfully colonized everywhere. In the marine environment, copepods are present in all types of water bodies from pelagic to deep sea and from sea shore to deep hydrothermal vents. Some of them are adapted to live inside the body cavity of many animals. These form the important secondary producers/primary consumers and ultimately contribute significantly to the food chain in large ecosystems. Almost all types of marine organisms, directly or indirectly depend on these small organisms for their food. Copepods form important food for many marine fishes and invertebrates. Certain fishes and fish larvae were evolutionarily adapted for feeding on copepods. Copepods are nutritionally superior than almost all live feeds. Many fishes, especially those with weak fish larvae, totally depend on copepod nauplii for their survival at least for the initial few days. Due to their smaller naupliar stages and nutritional superiority, copepod cultures became an integral component in marine finfish hatcheries.

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