Abstract | Introduction | Presentation | Diversity | Main marine currents | The different oceanic zones : Summary of the species - Marine currents and other maps | Cosmopolitanism and endemism | Species indicative of continental drift | Species whose localization is difficult to explain | Anthropic mechanisms | Conclusion

Abstract :

2696 species of pelagic Copepods have been inventoried to date (2019) in all the world's oceans and seas, with Calanoida predominating (79.1 %), the other orders (excluding Saphirella and Tisbe) with 534 species (20.9 %). Among the 25 arbitrarily defined geographic zones, the number of forms inventoried is maximal for the Indian Ocean and minimal for the Arctic Ocean. The average number of species per zone is 17.2 % of the total (mean: 463 species ± S.D: 199). The geographical distribution of species is linked in some cases to the historical evolution of the continents, and in many others to general surface currents. Deep-water currents, which are poorly documented, may perhaps explain the erratic presence of some forms.

Key words: Pelagic Copepods, Diversity, Geographic distribution

To note :

All the data indicated in this chapter concerning the distributions of species (numbers and poucentages) are automatically updated starting from the information inserted in our database.
This chapter is thus constantly reactualized and includes, in particular, the new species inserted in our base, as well as the lastest distributions of recorded species.