| Harpacticoid copepods are minute, morphologically diverse crustaceans that occupy a variety of marine and inland water habitats and play a significant part in organization of many communities. Systematic coverage of harpacticoid faunas was minimal for the central and northern California coast. Samples were therefore taken in a broad assortment of rocky intertidal and brackish water habitats. More than 100 species were obtained, producing a number of new distributional records and several taxonomic contributions. These results are summarized in a comprehensive list of harpacticoid species reported from the northeastern Pacific coast. Discussion encompasses morphological attributes, phylogenetic relationships, zoogeographical affinities, and distribution among assigned habitat categories. Featured are descriptions treating new species within the genera Bradyellopsis, Perissocope, Tegastes, Dactylopodia, Psyllocamptus, Mesochra, and Itunella, as well as heretofore unknown females of Tegastes perforatus Lang. From the perspective of coastal environmental gradients, the results show patterns of species composition similar to those of other organisms, except for a low incidence of species replacement in progressively lower rocky intertidal habitats. Regional patterns of harpacticoid occurrence remain poorly defined because of limited sampling along critical portions of the northeastern Pacific coast and bias in previous studies. Suggestions for future research stress needs for observation of living harpacticoids and for improved sampling methods. |
