Bryocyclops is a genus of freshwater-dwelling
cyclopoid copepods. The epithet Bryo- for
Bryophyta (Mosses) refers to the fact that the first few species were described from mosses.[1]
Distribution
Species belonging to this genus are distributed in all major biogeographic realms except Antarctica, although there are only a handful of species from the
Nearctic (B. muscicola) and
Neotropical realm (B. campaneri and B. rochi)[2][3][4]. Researchers suspect that with increasing sampling efforts, more species will be discovered from these regions. Apart from continental habitats, some species occur on the oceanic islands of
Guam,
Fiji,
Tonga,
Samoa[5] and
Christmas Island. In recent years, five new species have been described from caves in
Thailand.[6]
Habitat
As its name suggests, the type species was found in damp mosses.[1] Apart from other microcrustaceans such as
cladocerans,
ostracods and
harpacticoid copepods, only a few genera of cyclopoid copepods have managed to access semiterrestrial habitats like mosses,
leaf litter, tree holes, leaf axils, bromeliads and other
phytotelmata, or even man-made microhabitats (water-filled tin cans, car tires).[5][7] These habitats pose serious challenges to fully aquatic organisms, especially since they rely on passive means of dispersal (
phoresis[8]). Species of the genus Bryocyclops also inhabit cave pools, groundwater and other freshwater bodies.
Species
This genus currently contains 26 valid species:[9]
^da Rocha, Carlos Eduardo Falavigna; de Carvalho Bjornber, Maria Helena Gonzaga (October 1987). "Copepods of the Juréia ecological reserve, state of São Paulo, Brazil. II. The genera Hesperocyclops, Muscocyclops, and Bryocyclops (Cyclopoida, Cyclopidae)". Hydrobiologia. 153 (2): 97–107.
doi:
10.1007/bf00006642.
ISSN0018-8158.
S2CID8262056.
^Gonzaga de Carvalho Bjornberg, Maria Helena (May 1985). "Bryocyclops caroli sp.n. (Crustacea, Copepoda, Cyclopoida), the first representative of the genus in South America". Hydrobiologia. 124 (3): 237–241.
doi:
10.1007/bf00015240.
ISSN0018-8158.
S2CID39777322.
^Sabagh, Leandro T.; Dias, Roberto Júnio P.; Branco, Christina W. C.; Rocha, Carlos F. D. (2011-04-28). "News records of phoresy and hyperphoresy among treefrogs, ostracods, and ciliates in bromeliad of Atlantic forest". Biodiversity and Conservation. 20 (8): 1837–1841.
Bibcode:
2011BiCon..20.1837S.
doi:
10.1007/s10531-011-0050-z.
ISSN0960-3115.
S2CID12658034.