Welcome to CopepixJP !

Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in a wide range of aquatic environments, from marine to terrestrial waters. This group is exceptionally diverse and abundant; in Japanese coastal waters alone, over 700 species of pelagic copepods have been described and recorded as of June 2025. Due to their abundance and diversity, copepods play a crucial role as a foundational food resource in the marine food chain, serving as prey for various marine organisms. However, many copepod species are often described based on sketches, leading to a lack of resources that accurately reflect their appearance and coloration when observed in person. This website aims to introduce such copepods through photographs. When encountering a copepod whose species name is unclear in guidebooks or  papers, we hope this site will serve as a helpful reference. Of course, it can also be enjoyed as a photo collection!

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Taxonomic List

About

• Photographs of planktonic copepods occurring in Japanese waters are presented on pages organized by genus.

• You can access each photo page by clicking the corresponding genus name in "Taxonomy", or by using the alphabetical list in the navigation tab.

• Each photo includes a caption indicating the species name, sex or copepodite stage, size (PL: prosome length; BL: body length), collection site (water body or geographic coordinates), and collection date (YYYYMMDD).

• Photos of specimens obtained through contract work are published with the permission of the commissioning organization.

Copyright and Image Use Policy

• All images on this site are protected by copyright. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited. If you wish to use any images, please contact us in advance for permission.

• However, limited use of images—such as copying or public transmission for educational purposes—is permitted under Article 35 of Japan’s Copyright Law, provided it is within the scope of non-profit educational institutions.

• Use of these images as training data for AI or machine learning is also prohibited in principle.

• While we strive to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, detailed identification sources are not included. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the precision or reliability required for use in machine learning applications.

Request

This website is operated as an Corporate Social Responsibility  activity by employees of Marino Research Co., Ltd. We would be grateful for support from industry professionals in fields such as fisheries and environmental assessment through commissioning Plankton identification analysis services from Marino Research Co., Ltd. If you notice any inaccuracies in the information provided, please feel free to point them out along with the relevant references. Please note that unauthorized reproduction or use of the images published on this site is strictly prohibited. If you wish to use any of the images, please contact us in advance to obtain permission.

Web operator

Takeru UECHI & Yasuhiro ARAKAWA (Marino Research Co., Ltd.)