Copepods are important ecologically and represent a large amount of aquatic biomass in both freshwater and marine systems. Despite this, the taxonomy of copepods and other meiofauna is not well understood, hampered by tiny sizes, cryptic taxa, intraspecific polymorphisms and total specimen destruction where DNA methods are employed. In this article we highlight these issues and propose a more up-to-date approach for dealing with them. Namely, we recommend non-destructive DNA extraction methods, coupled with high-throughput sequencing (HTS). Whilst DNA yields may be low, they should still be sufficient for HTS library preparation and DNA sequencing. At the same time morphological specimens can be preserved and the crucial link between morphology and DNA sequence is maintained. This is critical for an integrative taxonomy and a fuller understanding of biodiversity patterns as well as evolutionary processes in meiofauna.

pe足类在生态上很重要，代表淡水和海洋系统中大量的水生生物量。尽管如此，对pe足类和其他鱼类的分类学还没有很好的理解，因为它们的体积小，隐性分类群，种内多态性和使用DNA方法的全部标本被破坏。在本文中，我们重点介绍了这些问题，并提出了一种处理这些问题的最新方法。即，我们建议使用非破坏性的DNA提取方法，并结合高通量测序（HTS）。尽管DNA产量可能很低，但对于HTS文库制备和DNA测序来说仍然足够。同时可以保存形态标本，并保持形态与DNA序列之间的关键联系。