The Giant Ostracod:The Bizzare Form

selim12 February 9, 2024 0 Comments

The Giant Ostracod is a deep sea creature from the family Cypridinidae is among the well-known class of Ostracoda. It’s a type of deep-sea shrimp.

Written And Reviewed by:

Deepseawonders

Table of Contents

Giant Ostracod Habitat:

They are found in cold dark deep oceans ranging from tropical to polar regions in Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans at depths starting from 150 to 3500 meters.

Description And Appearance:

They are large measuring about 3.2 cm with a globular shape, transparent with orange color or reddish but they can also be colorless with long pairs of eyes to locate prey. Females grow larger than males. They don’t have calcium carbonate as their body is so fragile and watery with 95% of water content resembling that of a jellyfish. Their eyes have a diameter of about 3 mm better able to capture light from any direction than any other member of their species.

Diet:

They eat copepods and small fish(fish larvae) or even other ostracods.

Behavior And LifeSpan:

They use their eyes to find bioluminescent prey animals. They extend their mandibles(part of their mouth) from the carapace to catch food. They use long antennae to swim smoothly at high speed. Their swimming will be unstable when brought to the surface. They can live for several years.

To explore the deeper water column, these creatures adjust sulfate in the hemolymph(like blood in invertebrates. This means that they are active hunters in the twilight zone where no sunlight is there and the only way to survive is to use all your given weapons.

Predators Of The Giant Ostracod:

They are hunted usually by bigger enemies like squids, grenadiers, and chub mackerel.

Reproduction And Lifecycle:

The female of the giant ostracod has a brood pouch used for reproduction in which the eggs develop into embryos. Adult females are more common than adult males with the young being much alike miniature adults.

Conservation Status Of Giant Ostracod:

Like other deep-sea animals, the giant ostracod is no exception as it’s threatened by human activities at the surface from dumping all materials resulting in habitat destruction and pollution making the life of this fragile creature more difficult.