Life cycle of Cyclestheria hislopi (Baird, 1859) (Crustacea, Branchiopoda)

• Main Authors: MN Yashima, A. Baldochi, O. Rocha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Biology
• Subjects: Cyclestheria hislopi; Conchostraca; life cycle
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842011000300018&lng=en&tlng=en

The Conchostraca (clam shrimps) are a group of microcrustaceans found in freshwater habitats. They inhabit the benthos, yet many can swim actively and are often associated with macrophytes. They are filter-feeders, deriving their food from suspended particles or solids stirred up from the bottom. In Brazil, five species have been recorded and the life cycle of one of these, Cyclestheria hislopi (Baird, 1859) was investigated in this study. Specimens were collected from fish-farming tanks in upstate São Paulo and from the floodplain of the Miranda River, in the Mato Grosso swamplands of center-west, Brazil. We determined the following variables: post-embryonic development, duration of life cycle (longevity), mean period between broods, duration of instars and individual growth. Taxonomic features of the Cyclestheria sp. specimens from Mato Grosso were also assessed to check the possibility that they belonged to another species of the same genus or a separate ecotype of C. hislopi.