Copepods are among the most abundant metazoans on Earth and can be found almost everywhere there is water - from high-altitude lakes in mountain ranges, down to the depths of the ocean trenches. Copepods dominate the zooplankton, they are super-abundant in sediments, and they are parasitic on virtually every phylum of animals from sponges to chordates (including reptiles and mammals).

This website will help you find out more about this fascinating group of crustaceans.

The World Association of Copepodologists (WAC) is a nonprofit international organization whose purpose is to promote research on Copepoda by facilitating communication among interested specialists. Join WAC today! Student Research Grants available!

The business of the WAC is conducted primarily at a triennial business meeting held during each International Conference on Copepoda (ICOC). Since 1987, the ICOC has been held at venues in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe.  Click here for a list of all past Conferences.

Dear WAC members,

Please find below the Spring WAC news update containing the latest information about our society. In addition to the news that our Treasurer, Chad Walter, has circulated recently about the forthcoming publication of David Damkaer’s third volume of The Copepodologist’s Cabinet (a monumental 1,700 pp. tome to be issued in three parts) you will find below some other highlights and recent developments. On behalf of the Executive Council, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you to renew your WAC membership dues if you have not already done so. WAC provides financial support to a number of important initiatives such as the organization of our triennial copepod conference (ICOC) and the International Workshop on Symbiotic Copepoda (IWOSC), the publication of The Copepodologist’s Cabinet, the Student Grant-in-Aid Programme, and the Kabata and other student awards awarded during the ICOC. Without your financial support these initiatives would not be possible. Information about WAC membership and how to apply can be found at https://www.monoculus.org/membership, or alternatively, you can contact the General Secretary (Leo Blanco-Bercial; secretary@monoculus.org) or the Treasurer (Chad Walter; treasurer@monoculus.org) of WAC.

Progress on 16th International Conference on Copepoda

Our Local Secretary, Iole Di Capua (Stazione Zoologica Napoli - SZN) and the Local Organizing Committee have been working hard in their preparation of the 16th ICOC to be hosted in Naples, Italy in 2027. Members of the Local Organizing Committee have met to discuss appropriate venues, potential sponsors and the management agency that will be employed to help organizing the conference. They have also been working on putting together an International Scientific Committee which will include up to 20 scientists representing different fields of copepodology.

The conference is scheduled for 6-11 June 2027, will be in-person only, and be held at the Santa Maria la Nova Complesso Monumentale (https://santamarialanova.com). The venue is located in the historical centre of Naples and can accommodate up to 340 people. The Pre-conference training workshop will be organized at the Stazione Zoologica during the week prior to the ICOC.

Three different types of excursions will be organized (1) field trips to three different marine protected areas, (2) city tour focusing on the historical centre of Naples, and (3) visits to archaeological sites, specifically Pompeii and Herculaneum.

There is an ongoing effort to secure additional funding from various sponsors, including companies, associations, local organizations and private donors. It is to be expected that both WAC and SZN will provide substantial funding to help organizing the event.

Final report on 15th ICOC, Hiroshima, 2024

Prof. Susumu Ohtsuka and his Organizing Committee have completed a detailed report on last year’s ICOC in Japan. The report (accessible at https://www.monoculus.org/meetings) presents a detailed account on the proposal and timeline of the 15th ICOC, participation and programme, keynote speakers and symposia, Maxilliped Lecture, Monoculus and student awards, the WAC Business Meeting (General Assembly), and the mid-conference tour and other social activities.

It also reports on the 8th Pre-conference Workshop which was organized by Rony Huys, Susumu Ohtsuka and Danny Tang and hosted at the Fisheries Laboratory, Blue Innovation Division, Setouchi Carbon Neutral Research Center in Takehara City, Hiroshima.

Group photos of the conference and pre-conference workshop have been posted on the WAC website (https://www.monoculus.org) under Meetings and Workshops tabs.

Change in Executive Council

Argun Özak (Çukurova Üniversitesi, Adana, Türkiye) informed the Executive Council that he wished to step down from his role as council member for personal reasons. On behalf of WAC, I would like to thank him for his contribution as an EC member during the six months that he served.

Serdar Sönmez (Adıyaman Üniversitesi, Adıyaman, Türkiye) has kindly agreed to replace Argun which was unanimously approved by the Executive Council.

Serdar (https://www.monoculus.org/officers/biosketch/serdar-sönmez/) obtained his MSc and PhD from Balıkesir University and is currently Full Professor in the Department of Biology at Adıyaman University, specializing in systematic zoology, molecular phylogeny, and genetic diversity. His research focuses primarily on the taxonomy, phylogeny, and evolutionary relationships of copepods, particularly Harpacticoida, using molecular and morphological methods to address questions of biodiversity and speciation.

Serdar is one of the founders and the webmaster of the TCRC (Turkish Copepoda Research Collection) website (https://copepoda.com.tr), which aims at bringing together researchers and collections related to copepods in Türkiye under a single platform.

Student Grant-in-Aid Programme

For the second year running WAC has offered three research grants to support promising students through its Student Grant-in-Aid Programme. Each award covers up to $1,000 maximum to support copepod research (including but not limited to research supplies and field work.). This is a unique opportunity for students who need additional financial support to facilitate their work and hopefully provides a stepping stone to a future career in copepod research.

Many congratulations to this year’s winners who were selected by an ad hoc committee (consisting of four Executive Council members) from a total of seven submissions:

Anitha Mary Davidson, National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan

https://www.monoculus.org/student-grants/anitha-mary-davidson/

Research project: Resilience of copepod species to acidic waters: Investigating the oxidative stress and genotoxicity in shallow hydrothermal vent ecosystems in northeastern Taiwan

Eve Smerczynski, University of South Carolina, U.S.A.

https://www.monoculus.org/student-grants/eve-smerczynski/

Research project: Impacts of climate change on a key component of the estuarine food web: shifts in copepod community over 43 years in a southeast US estuary

Agostina Tabilio Di Camillo, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila & IRET-CNR, Florence, Italy

https://www.monoculus.org/student-grants/agostina-tabilio-di-camillo/

Research project: The unsung heroes: functional traits of copepods in groundwater ecosystems

PeerJ WAC Hub launched

WAC has partnered with PeerJ to provide a copepod-focus platform that features novel and exciting research from copepodologists worldwide. The WAC Hub Editorial Team hopes that those visiting the hub (https://peerj.com/hubs/wac) will tell colleagues and students about the opportunity to publish their work here. To all those working on any aspect of copepods, we encourage you to join the Hub and use it to publish your research.

The WAC Hub is the latest in the PeerJ Hubs network, and will feature the latest research articles focused on all aspects of the study of copepods, from WAC Members as well as the wider research community. Pre-submissions (consisting of an abstract of the manuscript) will be assessed for community relevance by a dedicated Hub Editorial Team comprised of WAC members. Upon acceptance of the pre-submission, manuscripts need to be fully submitted within a reasonable timeframe of a few months. Articles are peer-reviewed and published by Peer Life & Environment, a high quality, open access journal publishing world-class research from across the globe. While anyone can browse the Hub and make a pre-submission enquiry, WAC members unlock additional features and benefits.

To celebrate the launch of this Hub, the first 25 abstracts approved by the Hub Editorial Team before 11th April 2025 will be given a 100% waiver on the publication fee! The WAC Hub launch has already been posted on FaceBook so take action now if you like to disseminate your exciting research.

Please feel free to let your networks know about this promotion, and the WAC Hub more generally.

5th International Workshop on Symbiotic Copepoda

The 5th IWOSC will be held 2-9 August 2025 at the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), an educational and research centre located at Teluk Aling on the northwest coast of Penang Island in the Penang National Park, Malaysia. The workshop will comprise an 8-day, fully residential event including research presentations, laboratory-based workshops and the opportunity for participants to help collect workshop-related specimens. The workshop will dedicate one day to aquaculture pests and parasite data analysis. The deadline to apply for the 5th IWOSC was 15 March 2025. Applications submitted after this date will be placed on the waitlist. For more information please visit https://sites.google.com/view/iwosc2025/home?authuser=2 or email at 5iwosc@gmail.com.

Rony Huys

President of the World Association of Copepodologists

Dear WAC members,

For the second year running WAC has opened the call for applications for the Student Grant-in-Aid Programme. This new programme to support promising students was initiated by James (Jimmy) Bernot and Alexandra (Sasha) Savchenko and was endorsed and launched by the Executive Council last year.

WAC is offering up to three student research grants per year in accordance with the availability of WAC funds, with each award covering up to $1,000 maximum to support copepod research (including but not limited to research supplies and field work.). This is a unique opportunity for students who need additional financial support to conduct their research.

It is WAC’s aim to support excellent students through the G-i-A programme so that it facilitates their research and - by doing so - hopefully provides a stepping stone to a future career in copepod research.

Please circulate this message as widely as possible to students in your labs and to your individual research communities. For guidelines how to apply and bios of the 2023 recipients please visit https://www.monoculus.org/student-grants/

The deadline for applications for the Student Grant-in-Aid programme has now been extended to 21 November 2024.

Rony Huys
President of the World Association of Copepodologists

Please note that the deadline for submission of manuscripts to the 15th ICOC conference proceedings has been extended. The new deadline for submission is now 30 September 2024. The proceedings will be published online only as a special volume in Plankton & Benthos Research. The first 10 pages of each submitted manuscript in PBR are published for free after which JPY 7,000 is charged per page. Colour figures are charged at JPY 50,000 per page but they will be published in the online version for free. WAC has provided limited funding to cover the costs of the production of the volume so contributors will not incur any costs. Please support the organizers of the very successful 15th ICOC by submitting your manuscript(s). It is important that we end up with a sizeable volume that reflects the research that was presented during the 15th ICOC. See https://icoc15.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/proceedings.html for more information.