TheCyclopoida are an order of smallcrustaceans from the classCopepoda. Like many other copepods, members of Cyclopoida are small,planktonicanimals living both in the sea and in freshwaterhabitats. They are capable of rapid movement. Theirlarval development is metamorphic, and theembryos are carried in paired or single sacs attached to first abdominalsomite.[1]
Cyclopoids are distinguished from other copepods by having first antennae shorter than the length of the head and thorax, and uniramous second antennae. The main joint lies between the fourth and fifth segments of the body.[2]
Several more families are included in suborderPoecilostomatoida, a temporary name for the "poecilostome lineage"[4] The Poecilostomatoida were previously treated as a separate order, but molecular phylogenies show that this lineage is nested within the Cyclopoida.[5]
