Effect of temperature on resting egg formation of the tropical SS-type rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis Tschugunoff

ABSTRACT:   Tropical minute rotifer strains (SS-type) induce mixis at 30–35°C but sexual reproduction and resting egg formation do not proceed well due to rapid environmental change. The present study examined the effect of temperature regulation on rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis (Langkawi strain, SS-type) resting egg formation in small (500 mL in culture volume)- and large-scale (500 L in culture volume) experiments. Rotifers were cultured at 30°C in 15–17 p.p.t. seawater with an initial density of 1 individual (ind.)/mL. After 4 days, when cultures were in exponential growth stage with active mixis induction, the culture temperature of the experimental rotifers was changed to 25°C. Control rotifers were cultured at 30°C throughout the experiment. Fresh or frozen Nannochloropsis oculata and condensed freshwater Chlorella vulgaris were used as the rotifer diets in the small- and large-scale experiments, respectively. Significantly higher resting egg production was observed with the experimental rotifers (30→ 25°C) versus the control rotifers. In the large-scale trial, experimental rotifers produced 2.6 × 10⁶ resting eggs during a 9-day experiment, which was 1.6-fold more than the control rotifers. Moreover, the efficiency of resting egg formation was found to increase by a factor of 1.8. The present study indicates that decreasing culture temperature from 30 to 25°C after active mixis increased resting egg formation in B. rotundiformis (SS-type).