Collected reprints: Abstract 3249
Collected reprints
Abstract
Vranken, G.; Heip, C. (1986). The productivity of marine nematodes. Ophelia 26: 429-442
The productivity of marine nematodes was studied from laboratory experiments investigating the relationship between minimum generation time and temperature, the daily birth rate as calculated from life-tables taking fecundity and survivorship into account and the temperature regime in the field. The life cycle of Monhystera disjuncta is described. Females produce about 200 eggs in agnotobiotic conditions over about 70 days : this represents 17 times their own body weight. The mean generation time is 20 days at 12°C and this species can produce 23 generations in the field each year. The maximum annual P/B is equal to 69. The annual P/B calculated from birth rate is 60.
From similar studies on five other nematode species it is concluded that the
life-cycle turnover is equal to three but the number of generations annually produced in the field varies from one to twenty. Annual P/B for the species studied and from literature data on other species lies between 4 and 69. The use of a single P/B value for nematodes is therefore invalid. Scaling with body weight is possible with the equation log P/B =-1.288 -0.440 log Ms where Ms is the weight at sexual maturity in kcal.
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