Effect of temperature on mass culture of three species of zooplankton, Brachionus plicatilis, Ceriodaphnia reticulata and Apocyclops dengizicus

Abstract

In larval rearing of commercially between important species appropriate live feed is necessary due to their small size, small gap, fragile nature, not fully developed receptors and digestive system. It is well established that the live food organisms meet all the necessary criteria for the small larvae of all cultivable fishes. Considering the importance of zooplankton as live feed, present study reports influence of temperature (26 ± 1 oC and 31±1 oC) on the population density in the mass culture of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis, cladoceran Ceriodaphnia reticulata and Cyclopoida copepod Apocyclops dengizicus in chicken manure fertilized medium. At 26±1 oC, all the three species viz. B. plicatilis, C. reticulata and A. dengizicus showed progressive increase in density and peaked during the third week of experimentation and their densities were 30833±1644 No./L, 8466±907 No./L and 14900±2981 No./L, respectively. At 31±1 oC, density of all the three species of zooplankton peaked in the second week of culture period and their densities were 9133±1778 no. /L, 1200±458 No. /L and 6000±1228 No. /L, respectively. One way ANOVA showed significant differences in their density 0.5 level of confidence at low and high temperatures.