(Click image for video). Male, indicated by the long antennules visible alongside the carapace. Off Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island, Los Angeles County, CA. 08/01/13. © Peter J. Bryant

Marine Cladoceran

Penilia avirostris

Order Cladocera; Suborder Ctenopoda; Family Cididae

Penilia is of special interest because it has an extremely sporadic and discontinuous distribution, and is the only truly marine species among the many hundred species of filter-feeding Branchiopoda in the suborder Ctenopoda.

Thanks to Jorgen Olesen and Claude Razouls for identification.

Identification

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(Click image for video). Female. From a sample collected off the Marine Protected Area of Crystal Cove State Park, Orange County, CA, during a Citizen Science Cruise organized by the Crystal Cove Alliance. 07/22/13. © Peter J. Bryant.
Female carrying embryos produced by parthenogenesis. Identified by DNA barcoding. Off Newport Pier, Newport Beach, Orange County, CA. 24-Oct-2013. © Peter J. Bryant.