Abstract The Gulf of California is known for its high productivity, diversity, and unique oceanography. Based on old and recent contributions, we estimate a richness of 160 copepod species in this province. This work seeks to identify latitudinal and seasonal patterns of the copepod composition, abundance, and diversity in the Gulf of California during 1985. Differences between four zones of the gulf (NGC, CGC, SGC, EGC) and between the cold and warm seasons were hypothesized, based on taxonomic and ecological data. Samples were collected during the CORTES cruises (1985), which also measured salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen at each station. We analyzed the latitudinal and seasonal variation of the copepod community with multivariate analyses (NMDS-PCA) and correlated these with the environmental data (CCA). Seventy-nine copepod species were identified, averaging 265,649 and 98,885 ind/10 m3 in the cold and warm seasons, respectively. Only 53 of these occurred in both seasons, indicating seasonal change in species composition. Composition and diversity varied latitudinally in the cold season (P < 0.05 in all comparisons but CGC vs. SGC), but not in the warm season (except NGC vs. the rest of the gulf). There was seasonal change in the composition and the abundance (P < 0.005 cold vs. warm season). Richness and diversity were negatively correlated with salinity (decreasing from the north of the gulf); the abundance and composition were mainly affected by the shift in temperature. These patterns also match the phytoplankton abundance and size structure in the gulf, probably the main factors affecting copepod distribution.