Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1995, Page 98

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PARASTENOCARIS GLACIALIS IN THE FAROE ISLANDS
Fig. 1. Localities containing Parastenocaris glacialis in
Fennoscandia, Iceland and Spitzbergen. Reprinted
with permission of Oikos.
of Fennoscandia (and the species has not
been looked for in the British Isles) and
moreover the species does not endure
brackish water, which makes an immigra-
tion to Fennoscandia after the last glacia-
tion via the coastal regions seem unlikely.
Since P glacialis has been found in
Fennoscandia, in Iceland and on Spitzber-
gen, it was found natural to ask whether it
has reached the Faroe Islands, which have a
short immigration history for plants and
animals (Enckell, 1988). Therefore, during
other field work, a number of sandy stretch-
es in lake and brook beaches were sampled
for the species. A number of voucher spec-
imens of P. glacialis have been deposited at
the Museum of Natural History, Tórshavn,
Faroe Islands.
The species
Parastenocaris glacialis is a small har-
pacticoid copepod, about 0.35 mm long
(Fig. 2). It lives in the interstices between
sand grains in beaches and probably feeds
by scraping microalgae from the sand grain
surfaces. Like other members of the family,
but unlike other harpacticoids, it moves by
Fig. 2. General habitat of
Parastenocaris glacialis
from the dorsal side. The
animal is ca. 0.35 mm
long.