Gonad maturity stages of selected calanoid copepods in the Southern Ocean

During several expeditions to the Southern Ocean from 1982 to 2005 the gonad maturity of selected calanoid copepods was determined to elucidate the life-cycle strategies of the different species. Five different developmental stages of ovaries (unripe, semi-ripe, ripe, semi-spent, spent) were separated according to Runge (1985) and Corkett and McLaren (1979). The stage „semi-spent“ was only investigated in few species and expeditions. In this stages the spent oviduct still contains a few eggs in some unwarranted rows.