Developing the harpacticoid copepod Tisbe biminiensis culture: testing for salinity tolerance, ration levels, presence of sediment and density dependent analyses

Abstract

Copepods have a number of advantages for use as live food in cultures of fish and crustacean larvae. This study aimed to develop culture techniques of Tisbe biminiensis Volkmann‐Rocco 1973 in volumes of 500 mL. The first experiment tested the effect of salinity on survival and fecundity. The other experiments studied the population growth comparing two levels of daily ration and the effect of sand sediment in cultures. The cultures were carried out on plastic boxes at 29°C, salinity of 34 g L−1 and 12 h light/12 h dark photoperiod with aerated filtered seawater, total renewal every other day. Adult females tolerated the decrease of salinity from 34 to 27 g L−1 but the offspring production decreased significantly. The salinity of 20 g L−1 was not tolerated at all. Tisbe biminiensis attained one of the highest rates of increase in cultures among harpacticoids (0.33 day−1) and a high density of 205 individual ind. mL−1. The carrying capacity of the population was estimated as 67 200 ind. in 500 mL recipients. In conclusion, T. biminiensis grow fast and attain high densities in cultures of 500 mL volume without sediment, feeding a daily ration of 50–100% of copepodite biomass.

Sensitivity of the marine benthic copepod Tisbe biminiensis (copepoda, harpacticoida) to potassium dichromate and sediment particle size

“…biminiensis has a short life cycle, fast development, high reproductive potential and one of the highest rates of increase among harpacticoids in cultures (ARAÚJO-CASTRO; SOUZA-SANTOS, 2005;PINTO et al, 2001;SOUZA-SANTOS et al, 2006). This species has been cultured under laboratory conditions since 1998 and has demonstrated its ability to reach high densities, thereby facilitating its use in toxicity tests.…”

“…The Tisbe biminiensis used in the present study was collected on a sandy beach, but in the laboratory, they grow as well in substrate-free media as in a sandy substrate (SOUZA-SANTOS et al, 2006). Thus, testing was performed to evaluate the behaviour of this copepod in muddy sediment.…”

“…The water was completely changed once a week, passing the entire content of the plastic vessels through a 64-µm sieve. The organisms retained in the sieve were transferred to clean vessels with 500 mL of filtered seawater, 20 mL of algal suspension and 100 mg of fish food (SOUZA-SANTOS et al, 2006). Before every toxicity test, whenever a large number of ovigerous females were required, the volume of the cultures was increased to 5 L, starting from 500 mL cultivation.…”

“…It has a short generation time and high reproductive potential (PINTO et al, 2001;SOUZA-SANTOS et al, 2006). It is easily cultured under laboratory conditions; requires low sample volumes; does not need a large amount of space for cultivation; and has an easily observable lethal endpoint.…”

The use of epibenthic copepod Tisbe biminiensis nauplii to assess the toxicity of seawater samples in Suape Bay (state of Pernambuco; Brazil)

“…Before the tests, measurements of salinity, pH and dissolved oxygen were taken. The salinity preference of both test organisms is similar (between 30 and 36) (ABNT, 2006;Souza-Santos et al, 2006). Thus, all samples with salinities between 20 and 30 were adjusted with brine, prepared after freezing filtered seawater, at a maximum proportion of 10% of the original sample.…”