Copepods
General info
In this study the harpacticoids are represented by the extremophilic canthocamptid Cletocamptus dominicanus Kiefer, 1934 and the metid Metis holothuriae (Edwards, 1891). Members of genus Cletocamptus Schmankewitsch 1875 (Crustacea, Copepoda, Harpacticoida: Canthocamptidae) are found throughout the world, most commonly in estuaries and coastal lagoons (Gómez, Gerber, & Fuentes-Reinés, 2017). Some members of Cletocamptus possess regulatory mechanisms that allow them to tolerate and thrive in a wide range of salinities (Anufriieva, 2015; Shadrin & Anufriieva, 2013). Ocurring as the most abundant harpacticoid copepods inhabiting Caribbean coastal saline lagoons (Gómez et al., 2017). Cletocamptus dominicanus occur at extremely high densities in salinities of up to 105 ‰ (salinity ranges from 36-106‰) (Gómez et al., 2017). In fact C. dominicanus is the most abundant metazoan organism on the sediments of the Salinas of Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge (Puerto Rico). C. dominicanus can also be found in other coastal regions of the Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Colombia (Gomez et al. 2017). Considering C. dominicanus adaptations to high salinities and frequent osmotic changes caused by frequent flooding of coastal lagoons, this species has the potential to function as a model organism in climate change and adaptation research. Similarly, the current records of Metis holothuriae suggest a cosmopolitan distribution, but the large amount of variation that has been reported for this species appears to reinforce the existence of a species complex (Mielke 1989; Wells 2007; Huys 2016). It is common in association to phytal and is reported to be an epibiont of the Caribbean Manatee (Violante- Huerta and E. Suárez-Morales 2016), maybe fortuitously occurring on this species (Huys 2016). The Longipediidae, in this study represented by Longipedia americana Wells, 1980, is a family composed of 22 species, usually found in shallow-water habitats, on mixed sand and muddy sediments (Boxshall & Halsey 2004). It is also reported on the Caribbean waters of Jamaica, Panama, and Mexico (Suárez-Morales et al. 2006).