Volume 159: Copepod Evolution. R.Huys and G.A.Boxshall. 1991.

Copepods are small crustaceans that have colonised virtually every aquatic habitat from the deep-sea floor to the high Himalayas.  They are by far the dominant animal group in marine plankton and often in freshwater plankton also.  They are abundant both on and in marine sediments from the intertidal zone to the abyss and can be found in damp terrestrial habitats in large numbers.  The variety of freeliving forms is only part of the copepod success story since copepods have become associates or parasites of virtually every animal phylum from sponges and cnidarians up to chordate, including fish and mammals. 

This volume examines in detail the evolutionary pathways that generated this amazing diversity.  It contains over 900 individual drawings and 43 plates of black and white photographs, the great majority illustrating the basic form of each of the ten recognised orders of copepods.  Existing classifications are reviewed and a new scheme of phylogenetic relationships is proposed based on the data in this volume.

No less than ten previous Ray Society publications deal with copepods;  Baird, Brady (3 volumes), T. & A. Scott (2 volumes), Gurney (3 volumes) and Kabata.  This latest volume continues the long established involvement of  The Ray Society in the study of copepods. 

Front cover illustration from an aquarelle by Maurice Gaillard of Paris.