Effects of cultural conditions on life history characteristics of the freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus

The effects of temperature, food concentration, and pH conditions on the life history characteristics of the freshwater rotifer, Brachionus calyciflorus, were investigated. The culture temperature (20, 25, and 30°C) had a significant relationship with life history parameters. At lower temperatures, there was a prolongation of the mean lifespan and juvenile period. The optimal temperature for the fecundity of this species was 25°C with an average quantity of 23.67±6.99 offspring female-1 across the entire lifespan of 6.7 days. No significant difference was found between the mean lifespan at different algae densities but the maximum fecundity (25.75±6.99 offspring female-1) was obtained at an algae density of 10x106 cells.ml-1. Brachionus calyciflorus could tolerate a broad range of pH (4-10) but preferred pH from 6-10. These results are critical for potential applications of this species in ecotoxicology, biomonitoring as well as in mass culture as live food for larval rearing in aquaculture.