Search results for "Rotifer"

Coexistence of cryptic rotifer species: ecological and genetic characterisation of Brachionus plicatilis

2003

SUMMARY 1. The coexistence of five cryptic species of the rotifer species complex Brachionus plicatilis was investigated in four coastal Mediterranean ponds. Monthly sampling was undertaken for 15 months and species were characterised using allozyme electrophoresis. 2. We describe species-diagnostic allozyme loci that can be used for rapid identification of these species. 3. The five species overlapped to some extent in their temporal use of the ponds, although some seasonal segregation was observed. 4. The match between temporal and spatial distribution and limnological conditions suggested ecological specialisation in some cases, although we found striking examples of extensive seasonal o…

Predatory interactions between a cyclopoid copepod and three sibling rotifer species

2002

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…

Crossed induction of sex in sympatric congeneric rotifer populations

2009

The transition from asexual to sexual reproduction in rotifers of the genus Brachionus (Monogononta) is triggered by a chemical signal produced and released by the rotifers themselves; the signal accumulates in the environment as population density increases. The response to this signal has been hypothesized to be speciesspecific. If not, the timing of sex and final diapausing egg production of a species might not be optimized. In this study, a set of experiments—based on individual and mass culture approaches—was carried out to investigate the differentiation in sex induction signals between sympatric and allopatric congeneric Brachionus populations by analyzing the capability of the mediu…

Increase of rotifer diversity after sewage diversion in the hypertrophic lagoon, Albufera of Valencia, Spain

2001

The Albufera of Valencia is a large oligohaline hypertrophic lagoon, regulated by sluice gates according to the needs of the surrounding rice field cultivation. It is in a turbid state with permanent cyanobacterial blooms. A slight improvement was detected after diversion in the 1990s of part of the sewage flowing into it. After sewage diversion, we found that: (1) Chlorophyll concentration and rotifer densities decreased; (2) Rotifer proportions declined, due mainly to a relative increase in cladocerans; (3) Rotifer diversity increased. The two dominants of the 1980s, Polyarthra spp. in the colder period and Brachionus angularis in the warmer one, reverted after sewage diversion to a more …

Evidence for an even sex allocation in haplodiploid cyclical parthenogens

2002

Recent theoretical work has shown that haplodiploid cyclical parthenogens, such as rotifers, are expected to have an equal frequency of male-producing and resting-egg producing females during their sexual phase. We tested this prediction by following sexual reproduction dynamics in two laboratory populations and one field population of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis through two growing seasons. We recorded population density, proportion of sexual females, and sex allocation (the proportion of male-producing sexual females as a fraction of total sexual females). We found this sex allocation ratio to vary from 0.3 to 1.0 in single sampling events. However, when we computed sex allocation b…

Patterns in rotifer diapausing egg banks: Density and viability

2006

Here we present a quantitative study on the density, age and viability of the diapausing egg banks of the rotifer species complex Brachionus plicatilis in the sediments of 15 water bodies from Eastern Spain. Sampled ponds, located in coastal and inland areas, varied in salinity and ranged in size, depth and permanence. By identifying ‘hatched’, ‘deteriorated’ and ‘viable’ diapausing eggs in the sediment samples, we estimated production, hatching and deterioration in relation to the habitat properties of each pond. Our results indicate the presence of large numbers of diapausing eggs in the sediments of almost all of the ponds studied (2–115 eggs cm −2 ). Inland ponds tended to have higher d…

A simple model relating habitat features to a diapause egg bank

2006

As a way to escape from adverse conditions, many zooplankton populations produce diapausing eggs that accumulate in the sediments and hatch when suitable environmental conditions are restored. While buried in the sediment, diapausing eggs may be affected by several processes (i.e., production, hatching, deterioration, and loss). We present a simple mathematical model for the dynamics of diapausing eggs in the sediment. We were mainly inspired by the model organism Brachionus plicatilis, a cyclical parthenogen rotifer, but the model is applicable to other zooplankters. Three diapausing egg categories are used as variables in our model: (1) healthy-looking eggs, assumed to represent the fract…

Acute toxicity of several pesticides to rotifer (Brachionus calyciflorus).

1992

Ecotoxicological studies with the freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus II. An assessment of the chronic toxicity of lindane and 3,4-dichloroani…

1993

The effects of chronic exposure of the freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus to the toxicants lindane and 3,4-dichloroaniline (DCA), were evaluated. The parameters used to determine the toxicity on these compounds were the age-specific and fertility, and the demographic parameters: intrinsic rate of natural increase (r), generation time (T), net reproductive rate (Ro), reproductive value (Vx) and life expectancy (eo). All the demographic parameters studied decreased with increasing toxicant concentrations. The use of life tables techniques with B. calyciflorus as a test method for the determination of chronic toxicity of xenobiotics is discussed.

Species size affects hatching response to different temperature regimes in a rotifer cryptic species complex

2013

The strategy of decreasing size with increasing temperature known as Bergmann’s rule operates at geographic scale and in spite of extensive studies still presents a puzzle to researches. The aim of this work was to verify whether patterns of diapausing egg hatching of closely related species are consistent with the expectations from Bergmann’s rule. In a laboratory study of the cryptic species complex of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis, the response to temperature (17.5, 22.5, and 25.0 °C) of diapausing eggs collected in a pond where the three tested species coexist was assessed by (1) the number of hatchlings emerging or (2) the time needed to hatch. Our results show that the response to…