Cannibal Crustaceans Curb Population

We humans know that crustaceans are tasty. Apparently the tiny marine crustaceans known as copepods know it too.

Mark Ohman of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying a species called Calanus finmarchicus , found that the population is regulated by females eating the young. Experiments show they chomp through egg masses floating in the open ocean.

The reasons for waxing and waning populations of small crustaceans are of interest to scientists because the extremely numerous animals form the basis of the marine food chain and play a major role in the ocean’s ability to soak up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

--Compiled by Rosie Mestel and Usha Lee McFarling