Copepods. They are among the most abundant multicellular animals on earth and generally regarded as the most numerous in the Chesapeake, with numbers routinely as high as 30,000 per cubic meter of water in some areas. They are a keystone food source for virtually every fish species in the Bay. But it takes a 3X hand lens to bring them clearly into view. In fact, they fly so far under the radar that their species don't even qualify for common names. Only the Latin Eurytemora affinis and Acartia tonsa are used to identify them.

In this episode, John Page Williams brings into focus one of the tiny--but important--mysteries of the Chesapeake.

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TRANSCRIPT

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Chesapeake Almanac is provided by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation - Saving the Bay through Education, Advocacy, Litigation, and Restoration. Find out more about our work to save the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed's rivers and streams, and what you can do to help, at https://www.cbf.org.

These readings are from John Page Williams, Jr.'s book, Chesapeake Almanac: Following the Bay through the Seasons. The publication is available in print at Amazon.com.