| Abstract: | Gammarus aequicauda (Amphipoda) and Moina salina (Cladocera) are dominant species and promising objects for aquaculture in hypersaline lakes. In the Crimean hypersaline lake Moynaki, population dynamics of their abundance was studied and experiments on feeding were also done. In 2018 and 2019, the average concentrations of G. aequicauda and M. salina differed between the thickets of sea grass Ruppia and the areas without Ruppia. The concentration of G. aequicauda in the thickets was on average from 52 to 126 times higher than in the Ruppia‐free areas. Moina demonstrated the opposite trend. There was a significant negative correlation between the abundances of these species in the Ruppia thickets (R = ?0.746, p = .005). The experimental results on trophic relation showed that the amount of Moina eaten by one G. aequicauda varied from 0.04 to 9.80 ind./hr and depended on the average Moina concentration. Calculation showed that the gammarid population consumed about 1.0%–1.5% of available preys per day. Gammarids were able to graze up to 60%–65% of the Moina population in 10 days. To develop integrated multi‐trophic aquaculture in saline/hypersaline waters, character of ‘gammarus–moina’ trophic relation and the biological peculiarities of these species must be taken into account. |
