The Reproduction and Development of Brackish-Water Copepods That Were Fed Microalgae of Different Species

The duration of development, survival rate, and reproductive characteristics of Calanipeda aquaedulcis (Krichagin, 1873) and Arctodiaptomus salinus (Daday, 1885) depending on a diet consisting of monospecific cultures of microalgae from three different taxonomic groups were studied in experimental conditions. The highest survival rates were recorded for the copepod C. aquaedulcis that was fed the microalga Prorocentrum cordatum (Ostenfeld) J.D. Dodge, 1975 . A. salinus showed the maximum survival rate when it was fed the microalga Isochrysis galbana Parke, 1949 . The duration of ontogeny in C. aquaedulcis was 14 days with each of the three diets. The shortest duration of development in A. salinus (18 days) was recorded when it fed on Rhodomonas salina (Wislouch) Hill and Wetherbee, 1989. The percentage of hatching nauplii in female C. aquaedulcis that were fed P. cordatum and I. galbana was 100%; however, when females were fed Rh. salina , it decreased to 86%. The average daily fecundity per life cycle in female C. aquaedulcis was found to be two times higher than that in A. salinus . The female A. salinus that received different diets showed significant differences in the average prosoma length and the diameter of spawned eggs; in C. aquaedulcis , these parameters did not depend on the species of food.