The biology of Simocephalus acutirostratus King (Cladocera: Daphnidae)-laboratory studies of life span, instar duration, egg production, growth and stages in embryonic development

The life cycle of the cladoceran Simocephalus acutirostratus has been studied in the laboratory with reference to its total life span, duration of instars, egg production and growth. It has four pre-adult and eighteen adult instars and produces about 248 eggs during a mean life span of 44 days within a temperature range of 28°C-30°C. Egg production was found to be bimodal, with a sharp decline towards the end of the life cycle. The present results are compared and discussed with those of other tropical and temperate daphnids. It has been shown that while this species resembles most other daphnids (D. middendorffiana, D. pulex, D. carinata) in the growth pattern of pre-adult instars, it resembles the temperate D. pulex in having a relatively long life span, relatively high egg production and slow rate of growth. While studies on embryonic development of S. acutirostratus resemble the growth stages of the temperate Daphnia magna, there are differences in the total period of development between the two species. In the latter aspect, however, the present species closely resembles other tropical daphnids.