Development and growth of Temora longicornis: numerical simulations using laboratory culture data

Abstract

Quantitative expressions are presented to describe the effects of temperature and food concentration on stage duration and growth rate of Temora longicornis for each of the model stage groups (N1–N6 – naupliar stages, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 – the five copepodid stages). The calculations were made on the basis of experimental data from the literature for T. longicornis from the south-eastern and the southern North Sea. Relationships were obtained between the growth parameters and temperature for the 5–10°C temperature range and food concentrations from 25mgC m−3 to excess. Also computed was the total mean development time as a function of the above-mentioned parameters, temperature and food availability. The simulations computed here are similar to the experimental results. The growth rates for successive stages were obtained according to the correction of the ‘Moult Rate’ method, which allows the use of mean weights and stage durations. The calculations also suggest that three complete generations of T. longicornis from the Gdańsk Deep (the southern Baltic Sea) can develop during a single year.