REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA E CIÊNCIAS DA TERRA ISSN 1519-5228 Volume 24 - Número 1 - 1º Semestre 2024

1. REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA E CIÊNCIAS DA TERRA ISSN 1519-5228
Volume 24 - Número 1 - 1º Semestre 2024
EFEITO DA DIETA NOS CLADOCERA MOINA MINUTA HANSEN (1899) E
DIAPHANOSOMA SPINULOSUM HERBST (1967) SOB DIFERENTES CONDIÇÕES
ALIMENTARES
Flávia Martins Franco de Oliveira¹; Maria Cristina Crispim²
RESUMO
Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar o efeito alimentar dos cladocera Moina minuta e
Diaphanosoma spinulosum em diferentes tipos alimentares e concentrações. O estudo testou
diferentes tipos de alimentação (plurialgal e unialgal) e em diferentes densidades alimentares em
três tratamentos T10³ (2,4.103
cél.ml-1
), T104
(2,4.104
cél.ml-1
) e T105
(2,4.105
cél.ml-1
). Os
resultados mostraram que M. minuta, no T10³ não sobreviveram em ambas as culturas. Na cultura
unialgal o T104
e T105
apresentaram no último dia analisado, 17 indivíduos. D. spinulosum obteve
média máxima de 45 indivíduos no T105
(8o
dia). Foram observados 100% de juvenis de D.
spinulosum no 8ºdia (T105
) enquanto no 11º dia, foram observados 84% de juvenis de M. minuta. A
taxa de fecundidade na cultura unialgal apresentou decréscimo no T103
e no T104
, sendo constante
no T105
, enquanto na cultura mista, o T105
apresentou decréscimo. Ambas as espécies foram
sensíveis a quantidade alimentar. M. minuta, apresentou desenvolvimento similar em ambas as
culturas, sendo melhor no T105
. D. spinulosum não apresentou indivíduos no T103 e no T104
no
último dia, revelando que estas espécies são sensíveis a presença de espécies dominantes do
fitoplâncton, como Merismopedia sp e Chlorella sp.
Palavras-chave: Dinâmica populacional, Estado trófico, Zooplâncton.
DIET EFFECT ON CLADOCERA MOINA MINUTA HANSEN (1899) AND
DIAPHANOSOMA SPINULOSUM HERBST (1967) UNDER DIFFERENT FOOD
CONDITIONS
ABSTRACT
This study aims to analyze the feeding effect on Cladocera Moina minuta and Diaphanosoma
spinulosum under different food and concentration. The study tested different feeding (plurialgal
and unialgal) and under different food density in three treatments: T103
(2.4.103
cel.ml-1
), T104
(2.4.104
cel.ml-1
) and T105
(2.4.105
cel.ml-1
). The results showed that M. minuta, in T10³, did not
survive in both cultures. In the unialgal culture, the T104
and T105
they showed in the last day
analyzed, 17 individuals. D. spinulosum achived its maximum media of 15 individuals on 8th
day. It
was observed 100% of D. spinulosum juveniles on 8th
day (T103
) nevertheless on 11th
day 84%
juveniles of M. minuta was observed only on T104
. To M. minuta the fecundity rate in the unialgal
culture has shown decrease in T103
and T104
, and it was constant in T105
, while, in the mixed
culture, the treatment T105
has shown decrease. Both species showed sensibility to food quantity.
M. minuta showed a similar development in both culture, better in T105
. D. spinulosum didn’t
present individuals in T103
and T104
on the last day, revealing that this species is sensitive to
phytoplankton dominant species present, as Merismopedia sp. and Chlorella sp.
Keywords: Population dynamics, Trophic state, Zooplankton, Food availability.
79

2. 1 – INTRODUCTION
The study of mutual relations among
phytoplankton and zooplankton communities is
of utmost importance both from ecologic and
economic point of view, by considering that the
aquatic animals from nekton and benthos,
especially the species of commercial interest,
feed directly on plankton, at least in some stage
of their development (LEMUS et al, 2004).
Sipaúba-Tavares et al., (2014) comments that it
is extremely important to verify the type of
culture that best causes zooplankton
development. In aquaculture, mainly in fish
culture (ABE et al., 2016; AZEVEDO et al.,
2016; CAMPELO et al., 2019, ROCHA et al.,
2021) and molluscs (SQUELLA et al., 2015;
LIMA et al., 2018), zooplankton exercises a
crucial role, since the larvae and fingerlings do
not welcome the feed as their food (PIEDRAS
and POUEY, 2004).
With this, the selection of living
organisms is of utmost importance and the
compatible nutritional value, ease of large-scale
cultivation and the appropriate size (LAVENS
et al., 2000; BARROS and VALENTI, 2003), to
allow the capture, management and intake of
them by larvae and fingerlings. The organisms
production, which most are adapted to the taste
of consumption organisms, should be also taken
into consideration. In the environment, for
exemple, factors such as water temperature,
transparency, luminosity, competition, vertical
distribution of organisms, availability of
nutrientes and allelopathy with other primary
producers, in addition to predation by
zooplankton (MULLER et al. 2012) are
fundamental for characterization the types and
density of phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Lampert (1981a) mentions one of
cyanobacteria effects on Cladocera species,
reporting that Microcystis aeruginosa can
significantly reduce the filtration capacity of
Daphnia pulicaria, on a diet based on a
Scenedesmus, with carbon concentration of
50µg.L-1
. Following the same trend, Heathcote
et al. (2016) also reported a negative
interference of individuals or colonies of
cyanobacteria, as a key mechanism of efficiency
loss in the use of resources by zooplankton.
Conversely, large size Daphnia could be an
effective solution on controlling the excessive
growth of cyanobacteria, according to Urrutia-
Cordero et al. (2016). Gilbert (1990)
demonstrates that Daphnia species can suppress
rotifers on food competition, and that
cyanobacteria can generally inhibit the growth
of Cladocera species over rotifer ones. In this
way, the importance of elucidating the
relationships between phytoplankton and
zooplankton is verified and several other works
have emphasized this dynamic (OLIVEIRA and
CRISPIM, 2013a; OLIVEIRA and CRISPIM,
2013b; PÉREZ LEGASPI et al., 2015; CHEN et
al., 2016; SEVERIANO, 2017; OVIEDO-
MONTIEL et al., 2019, ROCHA et al., 2021,
OLIVEIRA and CRISPIM, 2022)
According to Sipaúda-Tavares and
Rocha (2013), one factor that must be
considered is cell wall thickness, which can
determine rates of digestibility. This way, small
size chlorophytes are considered a useful food
source. Analyzing the predation effect on a
reservoir in southeastern Brazil, Gnocchi et al.
(2014) noted differences in cyanophyte density,
influenced by the presence of zooplankton.
When zooplankton was present, cyanophyte
density was lower than chlorophytes, and the
opposite trend was registered when zooplankton
was absent. Moreover, Severiano (2017)
reported that an increase in zooplankton
biomass (being this group mainly represented
by Brachionus rubens and Crustacea nauplii)
did not affect filamentous cyanobacteria, but the
increase in biomass of phytoplankton taxa
significantly reduced the presence of such
cyanobacteria. This shows the complexity of the
relationship between phytoplankton and
zooplankton communities.
In this way, this study aims to clarify
some aspects on the population dynamics of the
Cladocera species, Moina minuta and
Diaphanosoma spinulosum, in face of different
algal food quantities and qualities, in their
population dynamics, and aiming a large-
scale production for aquaculture, since these
species have a wide occurrence in Paraíba state,
Brazil and are easily seeing by predators.
For this purpose, laboratory experiments
were carried out with different treatments,
unialgal and mixed cultures, and the different
effects found in Cladocera species were

3. analyzed through organism counting, and
biometric analysis in adults.
This research tested the following
hypotheses: H1 – the density of both Cladocera
species, their embryos and their size are
influenced by the amount of food; H2 – The
unialgal diet will be a restrictive factor and will
negative interfere in the number of embryos and
both species densities; H3 – A minimum
amount of mixed and unialgal food will be a
limiting resource.
2 - MATERIAL AND METHODS
The experiments were carried out in the
Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology
(LABEA/DSE/Federal University of Paraíba),
for 11 days (no more, because M. minuta
population increased so much, that was
impossible to count and measure the
individuals). Zooplankton cultures were
obtained from ephippia present in the sediment
of the Manoel Marcionilio Dam, in Taperoá,
PB. Both species are used in this aquaculture
experiment, because they are good food and
easy to capture, so we tried to verify their
behavior in relation to the quantity and quality
of food administered in order to propose a better
feeding culture protocol.
Regarding food quality, two types of
algal cultures were used: mixed culture (with
algae of genera Chlorella sp, Tetraedron sp,
Microcystis sp, Scenedesmus sp, Coelastrum sp,
Kirchneriela sp, Trachelomonas sp,
Selenastrum sp and Merismopedia sp, with
Chlorella sp and Merismopedia sp. as the most
relative abundant genera and unialgal culture
(Kirchneriela contorta). For both cultures, the
Conway medium was used (WALNE, 1966).
The mixed culture was obtained from the
experimental tank of the aquatic ecology
laboratory and the Kirchneriella contorta
culture were obtained from the plankton
laboratory.
Initially, mother cultures were obtained
from zooplankton individuals of the species
Moina minuta, Diaphanosoma spinulosum and
kept in plastic containers at environmental
temperature (25+2 o
C).
For the tests, initially, adult samples of
medium-sized M. minuta and D. spinulosum
non ovigerous, were cultivated in a vessel with
capacity of 300 mL, with 100 mL of water and
were covered with a screen, to allow the
exchange of gases and avoid insect larvae. D.
spinulosum was not subjected to unialgal
treatment; the results are only for the mixed
culture treatment.
The micro-algal cultures (unialgal and
mixed) were kept in acclimatized environment,
with 24 + 1ºC and constant lighting. The count
of algae to feed Cladocera in the experimental
culture was carried out by using Fuchs
Rosental, counting chamber, and applying
three treatments with densities of 2,4 x 103
cells.mL-1
(T10³); 2,4 x 104
cells.mL-1
(T104
)
and 2,4 x 105
cells.mL-1
(T105
). For each
experimental treatment, three replicates were
made, containing an initial density of 5
cladocerans species individuals, each one,
involving an overall of 15 individuals per
treatment. Food was offered three times a
week, always preceded by algal count, to keep
the same algal density. The water was changed
weekly. Two times a week, the zooplankton
organisms were counted, measured, and
identified as having or not eggs/embryos,
to fecundity analysis.
Biometrics – the biometrics of
Cladocera species analyzed was carried out in
live animals. The body was measured by
considering from the anterior to the posterior
edge. To distinguish the adults of the juveniles,
the shorter lengths of females with
eggs/embryos or pregnant females, from this
length to the upper part, were considered adults
and the values lower than those lengths were
considered as juveniles.
Fertility – for the fertility analyses, eggs
and/or embryos in the incubation chambers of
females were considered. These data were used
in the following formula:
F = mnumber of eggs/embryos
total adult females
In order to compare the biometric data,
food quality and quantity, ANOVA was used
through the statistical program SPSS (STAT
SOFT, 1998).

4. 3 – RESULTS
3.1 – Population density and length
The experiment with M. minuta, which
was fed through unialgal culture, has shown
several lengths between 90µm and 480µm, and
the organisms with up to 280µm were
considered young. In T103
, organisms were not
recorded on the 11th
experimental day,
consequently, there was total mortality. T104
oscillated between minimum average of 5 and
a maximum of 17 organisms throughout the
experiment, but only in T105
the maximum
number of organisms was verified with an
average of 38 individuals in the 8th day (Fig.
2), decreasing after that.
M. minuta, in the treatment with
plurialgalculture had their lengths varying
from 200µm to 550µm, and the juveniles varied
up to 250µm. Individuals did not survive until
the end of the experiment in the treatment with
the lowest amount of food (T103
), in which case
individuals were registered on 4th
day and 8th
,
and accounting for 8 organisms in this
treatment.
As juveniles length were higher in
unialgal culture, it seems that there was a
population effort to individual growth instead
populational one. Maybe the nutritional value of
plurialgal culture was not able to support bigger
populations. In fact, fecundity, juveniles and
densities achieved higher values in unialgal
culture, especially on T104
treatment. The
dominant species in plurialgal culture,
Merismopedia and Chlorella, probably were not
nutritional enough to maintain higher
populational growth.
In the T104
the individual numbers have
oscillated throughout the experiment, with an
average of 32 organisms on the 8th
, then
reducing the average to 20 on the 11th
day. It
was also registered an increase on treatment
T105
, with an average of individual numbers
almost twice greater on day 8th
, reaching 38
ind., and decreasing to 16 ind on the 11th
day,
(Fig. 2).
The development of M. minuta was
similar for both cultures, considering that there
were no survivors on treatment T103
, and
treatments T104
and T105
continued available,
but reaching on the end of the experiment near
20 ind, what means a density of about 200
ind.L-1
. Therefore, what most interfered on
individual numbers was not the quality or algae
type, but the amount of food resources used on
each treatment, revealing that this species needs
a larger amount of food in order to maintain
viable populations.
Figure 2: Media number of individuals of M.minuta in
the three treatments (T10³, T104
, T105
) by using unialgal
culture (above) and by using mixed culture (below)
throughout the experimental period.
Font: Elaborated by the author
The experiment with D. spinulosum
being fed with mixed algal food presented
organisms between 240µm and 650µm, being
considered juveniles up to 300µm. In this
treatment the individuals did not increase, most
treatments decreased densities. It is relevant to
salient that D. spinulosum achieved the
maximum density on 8th
day in T105
with 15
individuals, decreasing numbers after that. In
the other treatments T10³ e T104
no individuals
survived untill the 11th
day (Fig. 3).

5. Figure 3: Media number of individuals of Diaphanosoma
spinulosum in the three treatments (T10³, T104
, T105
) by
using mixed culture throughout the experimental period
Font: Elaborated by the author
The development of M. minuta in the
mixed culture produced better outcomes than D.
spinulosum. On the mixed culture, D.
spinulosum count reached the maximum of 15
organisms on treatment T105
, with a decrease in
the number of organisms on the 11th
day.
Moreover, none of D. spinulosum organisms
survived on treatments T103
and T104
by the
end of the experiment. Conversely, the counts of
M. minuta surpassed 30 organisms on the last
treatment.
3.2 – Percentage of juveniles
Juveniles were not counted on the 1st
day
of any of treatments because the experiments
initiated with adult non ovigerous females. In
the experiment with M. minuta with unialgal
culture, individuals with up to 280µm were
considered juveniles. In this way, juveniles were
registered on the 4th
and 8th
days of experiment
in treatment T103
, corresponding to 40.9% and
20%, respectively.
The highest percentage of juveniles, in
the unialgal feeding treatment, was observed in
T104
of the last day analyzed (84%) and the
lowest percentage was 20% in T10³ of the 8th
day. Throughout the whole experiment and in
all the treatments, the value 55% of juveniles
was rarely surpassed (Fig. 4).
M. minuta individuals fed with mixed
culture were considered juveniles up to 250µm.
25% of juveniles were recorded in treatment
T103
only on 8th
day. Regarding the percentage
of juveniles throughout the experiment in
the mixed culture, there were no records of
juveniles until the 8th experimental day;
however, on the 8th day, the percentage value
found was above 20% in T103
and in T104
; and,
on the 11th
day, juveniles were not found in
T103
, only in the two other treatments in the
mixed culture (Fig. 4).
Figure 4: Percentage of M. minuta juveniles in the three
treatments (T10³, T104
, T105
) using unialgal culture
(above) and mixed culture (below) throughout the
experimental period.
Font: Elaborated by the author
D. spinulosum juveniles fed with mixed
culture were considered juveniles up to 300µm
size. Treatment T103
registered juveniles on the
4th
and 8th
days of experiment, with the later
corresponding to 100% of juveniles. The
percentage of juveniles of D. spinulosum was
present between 100%, since all adult died in
T103
in 8th
experimental day, and 11% in T105
in
11th
day. The presence of juveniles in T103
and
T104
, was observed until 8th
experimental day,
only in T105
juveniles were observed all
analyzed days (Fig. 5).

6. Figure 5: Percentage of D. spinulosum juveniles in the
three treatments (T10³, T104
, T105
) by using mixed
culture throughout the experimental period.
Font: Elaborated by the author
When comparing M. minuta and D.
spinulosum treatments fed with mixed culture,
the later species show a higher percentage of
juveniles, as well as the presence of juveniles
during all days of experiment. Even though, D.
spinulosum has not had a satisfactory
population development, showing M. minuta
higher numbers at the end of the experiment.
3.3 – Fecundity rate
It was observed that the treatment with
higher food amount (T105
), in the
unialgal culture with M. minuta, has shown
more homogeneous fertility rates throughout
the experiment, while in treatment T104
and
T103
the fertility rates have always
decreased throughout the time. This is due to
the high population densities achieved in
T105
treatment, showing more stability in the
well-fed population, while in lower food levels,
fecundity decreased along time. That reflected
in population extinction under T103
treatment
and lower numbers in T104
treatment.
In 104
treatment there was an effort of
increase population, especially in earlier days,
through high reproduction rate, but could not be
maintained, due low food levels (Fig. 6).
The fertility rate in T105
, in the mixed
culture with M. minuta, was higher than the
others in the 4th
experimental day, then
experiencing a period of decline until the end of
the experiment. This occurred because M.
minuta tried a population increase, but probably
the low quality of food did not favor high
fecundity rates and the population presented
slightly increases in fecundity rates in 105
mixed
algal treatment. This rates in T104
had also
experienced a period of decline between the 4th
and the 8th day (Fig. 6). This was explained by
the great increase of densities under this
treatment. As food decreased by the increase in
consumption, the M. minuta population
decreased as well, allowing a new increase in
reproduction and densities. In T103
there were
found ovigerous females only in the 8th day of
experiment (Fig. 8), but the population did not
survive the low food levels, that not allowed egg
production most of the time.
Fecundity rates of M. minuta fed with
unialgal and mixed cultures showed different
results. In the unialgal culture, fecundity rates
were higher than 1.4 in all days of experiments
and in most of treatments, while in the mixed
culture, fecundity rates were around 0.4 in all
days of experiments and in most of treatments.
Figure 6: Fecundity rate of M. minuta in the three
treatments (T10³, T104
, T105
) by using unialgal culture
(above) and by using mixed culture (below) throughout
the experimental period.
Font: Elaborated by the author

7. D. spinulosum in the mixed culture, the
only treatment where the species was observed
all the experimental days was T105
, while in
T104
, the fecundity rate declined from 4th
day
on, with no eggs or embryos registered on 11th
day.
Fecundity rates did not reach 0.5 in the
treatments with M. minuta and D. spinulosum
fed with mixed culture in most of treatments,
excepting in treatment T105
(on the 4th
day for
M. minuta, and on the 8th
day for D.
spinulosum). Treatment T103
showed similar
low results for both species, and only Moina
registered egg/embryos on the 8th
day (Figs. 6
and 7).
Figure 7: Fecundity of D.spinulosum in the three
treatments (T10³, T104
, T105
) by using mixed culture
throughout the experimental period.
Font: Elaborated by the author
The ANOVA results, in the unialgal
culture, showed that, there were significant
differences among the M. minuta lengths of the
individuals in the three treatments in the 11th
day of experiment in both cultures, and the
organisms were larger in the treatments with
higher algal concentrations (Tab 1).
The analyses to test the influence of
(unialgal and mixed) food quality on the lengths
of M. minuta showed significant differences in
T104
on 8th
and 11th
day and in T105
on 11th
day,
and the larger individuals are in mixed
treatment (Tab 2).
ANOVA data showed that differences
among length, subjected to different food
quantity in the mixed culture along the
experiment period were no significant to D.
spinulosum. (Tab 3 ).
Table 1: ANOVA results comparing the lenghts of M.
minuta which were submitted to unialgal food (above)
and mixed food (below), on each day of analysis, amount
throughout the experimente. The value in bold is
significant.
ANOVA
(unialgal food)
F p ( %) N
4th Day - - -
8th Day 2,882 0,059 146
11th Day 21,149 ˂0,001 102
ANOVA
(mixed food)
F p ( %) N
4th Day 0,348 0,708 44
8th Day 0,442 0,644 161
11th Day 7,931 0,006 125
Table 2: ANOVA analyses to test the influence of
unialgal and mixed food quality on the lenght od M.
minuta, separately in each treatment (103
, 104
, 105
), along
the experimente period.
ANOVA
(M. minuta)
F p (%) N
8th Day 10³ 2,149 0,155 28
104 6,740 0,011 115
105 0,465 0,496 164
11th Day 10³ - - -
104 14,689 ˂0,001 112
105 5,816 0,017 115
Table 3: ANOVA comparing D. spinulosum lenght
subjected to diferente quantities of food in the mixed
culture, on each day of analysis, along the experimente
period.
ANOVA
(D. spinulosum)
F p (%) N
4th Day 0,358 0,701 72
8th Day 0,358 0,701 52
11th Day - - -
4 – DISCUSSION
Analyzing food relationships among the
plankton, M. minuta show similar populations
growths between the two types, unialgal and
plurialgal food, reaching a slightly higher peak

8. in unialgal culture (T105
), and final density
lightly higher in the mixed culture (T104
and
T105
). However, the percentage of juveniles
was higher at unialgal culture, which can be a
result of a higher adult or juvenile mortality
rate, since abundance of adults did not increase
at the experiment end. Has the final abundance
been similar in both uni and plurialgal cultures,
it looks like that space could had been limitant
to this species, since there was only 100 mL of
water.
The highest abundance peak was
obtained in treatment T105
, with unialgal
culture, on the 8th
day, reaching an average of
37 individuals, and decreasing to 16 individuals
in the following analysis. Plurialgal food culture
reached the highest density peak also on the 8th
day in treatment T104
, corresponding to an
average of 32 individuals, and then reducing to
20 individuals. Rocha et al. (2021) observed a
growth peack of Moina sp on 11th
day reaching
150 org/mL subjected to Scenedesmus
subspicatus and fish ration as food. Macedo and
Pinto-Coelho (2000) observed that Daphnia
laevis reached a greater number of individuals,
with a diet of Ankistrodesmus gracilis, than
when fed with Scenedesmus quadricauda. This
result reveals the influence of food quality (i.e.
different preys) on the fecundity rates of
Cladocera populations. Analyzing the
interference of cyanobacteria on the diet of large
size Daphia, Urrutia-Cordero et al. (2016) noted
that they were capable of reduce the abundance
of Aphanizomenon, Dolichospermum,
Microcystis and Planktothrix, while the
filamentous Dolichospermum crissum were
positively affected.
Sipaúba-Tavares et al. (2014), evaluating
the Cladocera Diaphanosoma birgei growth
when fed with the microalgae Chlorophyceae,
Anikstrodesmus gracilis and Haematococcus
pluvialis in monoculture and mixed culture,
found that only A. gracilis and mixed
microalgae diets were able to maintain adequate
levels in egg production and development in D.
birgei. In the present study, the development of
M. minuta in mixed culture yielded better
outcomes than the development of D.
spinulosum in the same culture, indicating that
the later species is more affected by food quality
(i.e. algae type). Nevertheless, unialgal seemed
to be of better quality than the plurialgal, since
higher abundance was observed in 8th
day.
Vieira et al. (2011) testing M. minuta
and D. spinulosum in different trophic states
(oligo, meso and eutrophic) observed that there
was a density peak followed by a sequent
decrease, before the end of the experiment. The
same was observed in our research, the 8th
day
was the day with higher densities in M. minuta,
in both cultures, uni (T105
) and plurialgal
(T104
). Looks like there is a population effort
for growing, that declines afterwards, if there is
no conditions to support that grow. That is
observed in fecundity rates, that increase in the
early days, but decrease in the sequence, maybe
limited by space, or interspecific competition
for food. Maximum abundance in the Vieira et
al. (2011) research was similar to those
achieved in this work, with 30 individuals
maximum, and also showed that M. minuta
developed higher populations under higher food
levels.
Crispim et al. (2003) observed M.
minuta, high population densities over 1,200
ind.L-1
in a short period, in organisms ecloded
from ephippia. It seems there is an effort to
increase densities in both treatments, but
environmental conditions would only tolerate an
average of 25 up to 30 individuals (250 and 300
ind.L-1
), although as the experiment ended at
11th
, no conclusive result is available. As
observed in Macrothrix cf. trisserialis in
research carried out by Oliveira and Crispim
(2022) there seems to be something in the food
with K. contorta that inhibits the growth of the
species in the highest food concentration.
Population growth should be described by an
ascendant trend in unialgal culture, because
around 80% of individuals were juveniles. This
demonstrates that M. minuta is less sensitive to
food quality over quantity. When analyzing the
percentage of juveniles, D. spinulosum species
did have a better development than M. minuta
with the same culture reaching 100%,
nevertheless this does not result in higher
populations, since the abundance in D.
spinulosum was lower (half)_ than in M. minuta,
revealing higher mortality rates in juveniles or
adults.
Examining the food quality is an
essential step to the development of a good
culture. Studying the influence of the diet on

9. survival, development, and growth rates of
crustaceans, Camara et al. (2014) found out that
Notodiaptomus cearensis had better nutritional
adequacy with chlorophytes algae than
cyanophytes, and that Ceriodaphnia dubia
presented higher mortality rates and fecundity
reduction with cyanobacteria treatment.
Heathcote et al. (2016), analyzing the
relationship between phytoplankton and
zooplankton biomass of eutrophic lakes, also
reported a reduction in zooplankton biomass
related to the presence of cyanobacteria,
emphasizing how eutrophization leads to a
decline in the effective use of resources by
consumers. As the plurialgal culture were
dominated by Merismopedia (cyanobacteria)
and Chlorella sp., maybe the population growth
could be better, for both species, if a better algae
quality was present.
In a study carried out by Severiano
(2017), the author demonstrated that in higher
zooplankton concentration, spiral cyanobacteria
Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and
Dolychospermum sp. increased their filament
sizes, indicating that the morphology can act as
defense mechanisms.
The amount of food in treatment T104
of
the mixed culture was high enough to maintain
positive growth rates of M. minuta, indicating
an algae concentration threshold of 103
not
adequate to Moina minuta cultures. The
decrease in M. minuta on T103
, was a result of
decrease in fecundity rates, that was 0,0 on 11th
day, and no jeveniles were observed as well. Is
possible the initial densities could have food
enough, but with densities increase food became
limiting.
As densities in both treatments T104
and
T105
(unialgal and mixed) ended up the same, it
is possible that the maximum limit delimitated
by the available space was reached. Nakauth et
al. (2015), studying Moina sp. growth in a static
system using Chorella sp. and fishmeal, explain
that this food culture can maintain fish larvae
production, if they start optimizing the
production from the 4th
day on to keep the
exponential growth period.
The length of individuals grown in the
mixed algae culture was significantly higher
than those grown in the unialgal culture.
Furthermore, in the treatment T105
with mixed
culture, individuals were still significantly
larger, being more effective in aquaculture. This
way, it is proposed a diet with minimum
concentration of 105
, which will provide more
biomass and, consequently, more food resource
to the larvae. Nakauth et al. (2015) note that the
size of organisms offers information of which
developmental phase the organisms can be used
to feed fish larvae.
Fecundity rates in the three unialgal
treatments were twice higher than in the
plurialgal cultures. The unialgal treatment T104
showed a sharp decline on the fecundity rates,
while T105
maintained constant rates throughout
the experiment. The reproductive effort is
expected to decline as the densities rise, a trend
observed in other studies (Crispim and Boavida,
2002). Pérez Legaspi et al. (2015) verified that
the highest fertility and fecundity rate of
Ceriodaphnia cornuta accurred at 30ºC, fed
with Scenedesmus obliquos and the lowest
occurred when fed with Nannochloris oculata
proving that phytoplankton species play no
importante role in zooplankton population
growth.
Macedo and Pinto-Coelho (2000) also
reported in their research that Moina micrura
produced eggs two days before, when fed with
Ankistrodesmus gracilis than when fed with
Scenedesmus quadricauda. According to
Beatrici (2004), Daphnia similis produced better
outcomes related to its fertility in medium M4,
and with diet based on Selenastrum
capricornutum and S. capricornutum, than when
artemia was used. However, when using
medium ISO associated with other diet types,
the fertility rates of Cladodera were lower than
one individual per female per day.
5 – CONCLUSION
Moina minuta showed higher population
growth in T105
for the unialgal culture and in
T104
for the mixed culture throughout the
experimental period. Their body length was
significantly higher in the plurialgal culture and
the percentage of young individuals was higher
in unialgal culture, as well as fecundity.
With regard to the three treatments, the
higher amount of M.minuta during the whole
experiment was obtained in treatment T104
in

10. the plurialgal culture and in T105
in the unialgal
culture. This means that one of the algae
Chlorella or Merismopedia inhibited the
M.minuta growth, as their population did not
increased higher in the presence of more food.
The treatment T10³, in both culture types for
both species, proved to be unfeasible since the
organisms could not survive until the end of the
experiment. We observed that Hipothesis 2 was
accepted, since densities, lengths and
fecundities were benefit from T105
; H3 was also
corroborated, with 104
being the minimum limit
in cultures for these two species tested H2 was
rejected, since unialgal culture was able of
maintain growing populations, since in higher
densities.
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______________________________________
1- PhD by Postgraduate in Development and
Environment Program – PRODEMA/UFPB,
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6974-
138X, E-mail: fmf_oliveira@hotmail.com
2- PhD Teacher of the Systematics and Ecology
Department – UFPB, campus I – 58059-900,
ORCID: 0000-0002-4414-2989
90