Oncaeidae Giesbrecht W., 1893
Amendments 10 June 2025:
- Author field corrected to show Ruth Böttger-Schnack and Dietrich Schnack as authors of this plankton leaflet.
- Table 6.1: one cell has been corrected.
The family Oncaeidae includes the smallest pelagic copepod species known. They are widely distributed in all parts of the world ocean but are very often not quantitatively collected in routine plankton surveys, owing to their small size. The life strategy of oncaeids differs from other marine pelagic copepods by a more pseudopelagic lifestyle, often being associated with gelatinous organisms. Many open questions remain with respect to their taxonomy and biology. A comprehensive review on the state of knowledge about Oncaeidae has been published by Böttger-Schnack and Schnack (2023). The family comprises, at present, 7 genera and 114 valid species, and many more await description. The present leaflet for Oncaeidae in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea is new in this series and includes a replacement of leaflets nos. 169–171 for the genus Oncaea. In total, 70 species are considered for the ICES area. Besides general information on Oncaeidae and recommendations for dissection and observation methods, the leaflet presents a key for the identification of the seven genera and keys for the species per genus occurring in the ICES area. These keys are restricted to females.
