In the northern Pacific, it is known from the Gulf of Alaska, British Columbia and the coasts of Washington and Oregon.

It is an open water species, and the nauplius larvae occur at depths of 65 m (200 ft).

Calanid copepods play a key role in the food web in northern seas, providing a link between the photosynthetically active primary producers and the commercially important fish which feed in these waters.

[4] As they swim vertically, newly moulted females leave a pheromone trail behind them in the water some tens of centimetres long.

Males swim mainly horizontally and on encountering a trail they do a little wiggle dance before chasing and homing in on the female.