Demographic Characteristics of Onychocamptus bengalensis (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) – A Potential Live Feed for Aquaculture

Onychocamptus bengalensis (O. bengalensis) is an estuarine harpacticoid copepod. Its demographic features – such as a high reproductive potential, large brood size, long reproductive period, large female population, short generation time, and high survival rate – make it a potential live feed candidate for aquaculture.For the purpose of this study, the species was cultured in the laboratory. The results indicated that the duration of embryonic development was 3 days, the naupliar development 6-7 days, the copepodid development 3-4 days, the generation time 15 days, and the interclutch period 4 days. The females produced 8-10 clutches of eggs, each clutch with 8-53 eggs. From first nauplius to adult, O. bengalensis provides a broad spectrum of prey sizes (62 μm-760 μm in length). The culture in different salinities indicated that at 16ppt, it produced 32±2 eggs. The survival rate (91%) and lifespan (69±23 days) were highest at 24ppt. The culture of this species with different food media showed that the diatom medium resulted in larger brood size, a higher percentage of ovigerous females, shorter interclutch period, shorter generation time and a higher survival rate.