The prediction of development rate and the effect of temperature for the meiobenthic copepod,Microarthridion littorale (Poppe)

Specimens of the meiobenthic copepod, Microarthridion littorale (Poppe ), were cultured in the laboratory on substrata consisting of sediment, benthic diatoms, and detrital filtrate. No significant differences were found in egg development times of M. littorale cultured in winter vs. summer, and we suggest several possible interpretations. Egg development time was independent of the number of clutches a female carried in the laboratory, suggesting confidence in estimates of egg development time without knowledge of the number of broods a female has produced. Egg, naupliar, and copepodite development rates were determined over a range of temperatures. Regression analyses indicated that both Bělehrádek's temperature function and a curvilinear model adequately described the relationship between development and temperature for all three developmental stages. A linear model was also adequate to describe copepodite development (Lack of Fit Test, P = 0.05). Eight of the reared females produced egg sacs, allowing us to estimate generation time (egg to egg) as 29.6 days at 25°C and 21.6 days at 33°C. Generation times were compared to those for a closely related benthic copepod, Tachidius discipes. Life history parameters between the two differed, and we advise caution when using predictions of development time derived from a species other than the one being studied.