Pseudocalanus minutus (Krøyer 1845)

One of most abundance shelf copepods of Arctic shelves

Females beginning spawn in spring at least partly based on lipid reserves from previous year, with continued reproduction throughout the summer; Female carries eggs in a single large clutch until hatching; Clutch size dependent on size of female with maximums of ~60 and typically ~30 eggs; Generation length estimated at 1 year; Life expectancy unknown

Suspension "filter" feeder on phytoplankton and protists; Lipid deposits accumulated for over-wintering; Thought to be one of the arctic's key grazers in shelf waters

Body almost completely transparent, red color may be prominent on posterior quarter of prosome, mouth parts, and/or parts of the urosome (the tail); Lipid sac can be prominent; Urosome (tail) somewhat long (~40% of prosome); Antennae longer then prosome, but less than total length; Anterior of body somewhat peaked with prominent spines on posteriot ventral margins of thorathic segments I & II

Boreal to arctic waters; Abundant on shelves, limited occurrence over deep basins; Outside of the Arctic, it moves into deeper, colder waters seasonally