Effect of pentachlorophenol on predator-prey interaction of two rotifers

Abstract The effect of pentachlorophenol (PCP) on the predator-prey relationship of two rotifers (Asplanchna girodi and Brachionus calyciflorus) was studied using Asplanchna predatory behavior as an endpoint. The experimental design included three treatments: prey and predator exposure, only prey exposure, and only predator exposure. This enabled us to distinguish toxic effects on the predator from those on the prey and to detect interactions. The main toxic effects observed were on the predator and involved the number of predator-prey encounters. Encounters decreased in a dose-dependent manner, with a no observed effect threshold at 0.11 mg PCP l−1. Decrease in encounter rate reduced the n…

Density-dependent regulation of natural and laboratory rotifer populations

Density-dependent regulation of abundance is fundamentally important in the dynamics of most animal populations. Density effects, however, have rarely been quantified in natural populations, so population models typically have a large uncertainty in their predictions. We used models generated from time series analysis to explore the form and strength of density-dependence in several natural rotifer populations. Population growth rate (r) decreased linearly or non-linearly with increased population density, depending on the rotifer species. Density effects in natural populations reduced r to 0 at densities of 1–101−1 for 8 of the 9 rotifer species investigated. The sensitivities of these spe…

Fifteen species in one: deciphering the Brachionus plicatilis species complex (Rotifera, Monogononta) through DNA taxonomy

Understanding patterns and processes in biological diversity is a critical task given current and rapid environmental change. Such knowledge is even more essential when the taxa under consideration are important ecological and evolutionary models. One of these cases is the monogonont rotifer cryptic species complex Brachionus plicatilis, which is by far the most extensively studied group of rotifers, is widely used in aquaculture, and is known to host a large amount of unresolved diversity. Here we collate a dataset of previously available and newly generated sequences of COI and ITS1 for 1273 isolates of the B. plicatilis complex and apply three approaches in DNA taxonomy (i.e. ABGD, PTP, …

Small, beautiful and sexy: what rotifers tell us about ecology and evolution

Using probability of extinction to evaluate the ecological significance of toxicant effects

A large component of uncertainty in ecological risk assessment (ERA) arises from the disparity between the time scale of toxicity measurements and the time scale of predictions of ERA models. It is difficult to make predictions about the persistence of populations from data from short-term toxicity tests. Reproductive toxicity tests provide data about how population growth rate (r) is reduced with toxicant exposure. Although reduction in r is believed to be one of the most important effects of toxicant exposure, its ecological significance has been difficult to quantify. For rotifers, r is typically reduced by 10 to 15% at no-observed-effect concentrations (NOEC). We investigated r reductio…

Surface glycoproteins in copepods: potential signals for mate recognition

The mechanism male copepods use to recognize mates is not well understood. Both chemical and mechanical cues have been implicated, but the relative importance of these is not known. This lack of knowledge is despite the belief that mate recognition has a critical role in maintaining reproductive isolation of many species and influences the direction of evolution. Glycoproteins are used as mating signals by a number of aquatic organisms including rotifers, ciliates, and algae. We have developed techniques for selectively probing surface glycoproteins in zooplankton using fluorescently labeled lectins. We examined surface glycoproteins on the urosomes of several species of marine and freshwat…

Comparative toxicant sensitivity of sexual and asexual reproduction in the rotiferBrachionus calyciflorus

Cyclically parthenogenetic zooplankters like rotifers are important tools for assessing toxicity in aquatic environments. Sexual reproduction is an essential component of rotifer life cycles, but current toxicity tests utilize only asexual reproduction. The authors compared the effects of four toxicants on asexual and sexual reproduction of the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus. Toxicants had a differential effect on sexual and asexual reproduction, with sexual reproduction consistently the most sensitive. Concentrations of 0.2 {mu}g/ml PCP (sodium pentachlorophenate) had no effect on the asexual reproductive rate, but significantly reduced sexual reproduction. Likewise, chlorpyrifos concentr…

Sex Loss in Monogonont Rotifers

Monogonont rotifers are small, aquatic invertebrates capable of asexual and sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction is required to produce diapausing eggs, which are able to survive adverse periods that typically occur every year. Their cyclically parthenogenetic life-cycle is believed to retain the advantages of recombination while minimizing the cost of sex. However, this life cycle is also thought to be unstable due to periodic loss of sexual reproduction by directional selection. Explaining the evolutionary dynamics of the monogonont rotifer life cycle is important for understanding how cyclical parthenogenesis is maintained, and for comparing monogononts with their close relatives, th…

Why are male rotifers dwarf?

Predatory interactions between a cyclopoid copepod and three sibling rotifer species

SUMMARY 1. Cyclopoid copepod predation on rotifers affects the dynamics and structure of zooplankton communities. We address the differential vulnerability of three sympatric rotifer sibling species belonging to the Brachionus plicatilis species complex. These co-occur with their cyclopoid predator, Diacyclops bicuspidatus odessanus. 2. Using video recording and tracking, we analysed the steps in predation including attack distance, attack angle, and rotifer species swimming in the presence and absence of the predator. Our results show the greater vulnerability of B. rotundiformis (the smallest species) to D. b. odessanus predation, which is associated with a high percentage of attacks afte…

Selective feeding of Arctodiaptomus salinus (Copepoda, Calanoida) on co-occurring sibling rotifer species

Summary 1. Using two- and three-dimensional video recordings, we examined the steps involved in predation that lead to the differential vulnerability of three sympatric rotifer sibling species (Brachionus plicatilis, B. ibericus and B. rotundiformis) to a co-occurring, predatory, calanoid copepod (Arctodiaptomus salinus). 2. Brachionus rotundiformis, the smallest prey tested, was the most vulnerable with the highest encounter rate, probability of attack, capture and ingestion, and the lowest handling time. 3. Comparison of our results with those of a previous study shows that A. salinus is a more efficient predator than a co-occurring cyclopoid copepod (Diacyclops bicuspidatus odessanus) fe…

Delayed mixis in rotifers: an adaptive response to the effects of density-dependent sex on population growth

In most cyclically parthenogenetic life cycles, sex is needed to produce resting stages. In several species of cyclically parthenogenetic rotifers, some generations of clones are not responsive to a density-dependent signal that triggers sexual female production. These unresponsive rotifers hatch from resting eggs and typically pass 8–12 generations of female parthenogenesis before becoming receptive to the mixis signal. We addressed the selection for mixis delay using a simulation model. A delay of sexual reproduction could increase population growth through parthenogenesis and thus the number of resting eggs ultimately produced. In a monomorphic population without mixis delay, we determin…

Euryhaline Brachionus strains (Rotifera) from tropical habitats: morphology and allozyme patterns

The euryhaline rotifer Brachionus is a complex of sibling species. Although many investigations have been carried out in the past, the relationships among the Spanish species, the tropical SS strains and the clusters previously described, remained unknown. In this study, allozyme data for five populations from the tropics and two from Spanish lagoons — one of them B. ibericus and the other B. rotundiformis — were combined with data from the previous studies. Cluster analysis based on genetic distance allowed the 74 strains to be divided into two major groups. One group was associated with B. plicatilis-like strains, and the other group was associated with B. rotundiformis and B. ibericus. T…