Acartia teclae is a species of copepod

Copepod

Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic , some are benthic , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests,...

 belonging to the family Acartiidae

Acartiidae

Acartiidae is a family of calanoid copepods distinguishable by the rostral margin not being extended. They are epipelagic, planktonic animals, not being found below a depth of . There are over 100 described species distributed throughout the world's oceans, mainly in temperate areas....

. This species was discovered when specimens previously identified as Acartia clausi

Acartia clausi

Acartia clausi is a species of marine copepod belonging to the family Acartiidae. This species was previously thought to have a worldwide distribution but recent research has restricted its range to coastal regions of the north-east Atlantic Ocean as far north as Iceland, the Mediterranean Sea and...

were examined and found to belong to a separate species. This species appears to have a similar range (Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 and north eastern Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 as far north as Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

) to, and occupies similar brackish estuarine habitats as, Acartia lefevreae

Acartia lefevreae

Acartia lefevreae is a species of copepod belonging to the family Acartiidae. This species was discovered when specimens previously identified as Acartia clausi were examined and found to belong to a separate species . Its range overlaps with that of A...

but differs in the absence of spines on the dorsal

Dorsum (biology)

In anatomy, the dorsum is the upper side of animals that typically run, fly, or swim in a horizontal position, and the back side of animals that walk upright. In vertebrates the dorsum contains the backbone. The term dorsal refers to anatomical structures that are either situated toward or grow...

 part of the posterior body segment (metasome).