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Vol. 54, 2015
Life history and DNA barcode of Oxyurella longicaudis (Birgei, 1910) (Cladocera, Anomopoda, Chydoridae)
Maria Carolina de Almeida Castilho1,*, Maria José dos Santos Wisniewski2,
Cínthia Bruno de Abreu2, and Tereza Cristina Orlando
1Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, CP. 510, CEP 18618-000, Botucatu, SP, Brazil
2Instituto de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal de Alfenas-MG, CEP 37130-000, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
Abstract
Background: Cladocera
is an important group of freshwater zooplankton, and the species plays
an important role in energy transfer and in aquatic food webs. Oxyurella longicaudis
is a Chydoridae species that has been recorded in North and South
America. The aim of this study is to investigate the life cycle aspects
of parthenogenetic females of O. longicaudis
cultured in laboratory under controlled conditions: temperature (23°C ±
05°C), photoperiod (12 h light/12 h dark), food supply, and
reconstituted water.
Results: Embryonic
development duration (2.3 ± 0.5 days), post-embryonic development (5.2
± 0.69 days), mean fecundity (two eggs female−1 brood−1), total egg
production (22.55 ± 3.98 eggs), average longevity (58 days), and body
growth of the species were recorded. We also report the first DNA
barcode for O. longicaudis
isolated in Brazil, which will allow for easy identification in future
zooplankton community studies. The analysis shows a genetic divergence
of around 7% between our Brazilian isolate and O. longicaudis isolates from Mexico.
Conclusions: The time of embryonic and post-embryonic development of O. longicaudis
was higher than that of the other species of the same family, which
contributed to lower total egg production throughout its life cycle.
The genetic divergence appears to be sufficient to classify the two
isolates as different species.
Key words: Conservation-priority areas; Zooplankton; Bionomics; Cryptic speciation; COI.
*Correspondence: E-mail: mariacarolcastilho@gmail.com
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