Planktonic Oceanic Ostracods—Historical, Present and Future

Abstract

Brady's (1880) Challenger report mentioned only three species of planktonic ostracods, all halocyprids. At that time only 10 halocyprid species were known and only 14 papers had been written on the group. The major burst of interest came in the twenty years 1890–1909, when first Claus and then G. W. Müller published series of papers describing the majority of the present species. Table 1 shows the wax and wane in the numbers of papers published and the species described by decades since 1849 when Dana described the first species. The table clearly shows the recent upsurge of interest in the group. Many of the papers include only passing mention of planktonic ostracods, and so this review attempts to assemble all these scattered references so that the ecological importance of the group can be appreciated and further research requirements become clearer