Crypsis
Being very small, and differing significantly in shape from a sphere, means copepods are able to maintain level in the water column without sinking with little effort, due to microscopic behaviour of water. Turbinata is found at certain levels in the water column throughout the day, following diel vertical migration whereby they actively swim or sink to certain depths. Following this pattern is believed to help avoidance of predation due to lower visibility in low-light water. Swimming actions involving flicking the second antennules to "jump" is another observed response to avoid predation actively. Copepods are difficult to spot due to their small size, which is why larger predators such as balleen whales filter them out of the water column, as do researchers collecting specimens. |