Triops (Entomostraca) eggs killed only by boiling.

Abstract

Temporary rainpools near Khartoum, Sudan, are inhabited by the notostracan crustacean Triops which completes its life cycle within 4 weeks. The annual rains fall in late summer, and throughout the winter and early summer the eggs of Triops remain in the dried mud or dust where they may be exposed to temperatures up to 80 degrees C. Laboratory experiments show that they can withstand temperatures up to within 1 degrees C of boiling, but are killed in partial vacuum by 70 degrees C, at atmospheric pressure by 100 degrees C, or under pressure by 105 degrees C. Exposure to high temperature seems to be necessary to break the egg diapause.