Growth and respiration of Cyprideis torosa Jones 1850 (Crustacea Ostracoda)

The ostracod Cyprideis torosa Jones 1850 is a dominant species in brackish water habitats. To assess its importance, growth and respiration were measured. The shells form an increasing part of total weight as the animals grow but there is no correlation between shell weight and soft parts weight in the adults, indicating that tissue growth is a continuous process in these ostracods.Respiration was measured at 20° C. The slope of the log-log regression of respiration on dry weight was 0.746, showing that Cyprideis torosa follows the general rule for this relationship. The respiration rate per unit biomass was 0.246 nl O₂ μg^-1 h^-1, which is low but well within the range of observed meiobenthic respiration rates.The Q₁₀, expressing the temperature dependence of respiration, was 2.15. The general validity of Price and Warwick's (1980) hypothesis relating Q₁₀ to stability of food supply is questioned.