Calanus finmarchicus

Also known as Norwegian Copepod, North Atlantic Copepod

These tiny, lipid-rich crustaceans dominate the zooplankton of the subarctic and temperate North Atlantic, serving as a critical energetic foundation for entire marine food webs. Adults and late-stage copepodites accumulate large oil sacs filled with wax esters during spring phytoplankton blooms, giving them an amber hue and immense caloric value. During late summer, populations descend into deep offshore waters exceeding several hundred meters to undergo diapause, avoiding visual predators until returning to the surface to reproduce the following spring.