Resumo

BRITO, Diagnora; MILANI, Nadia  e  PEREIRA, Guido. FILTRATION AND INGESTION RATES OF Simocephalus vetulus (MÜLLER, 1776) (CRUSTACEA: CLADOCERA) FED WITH Selenastrum capricornutum PRINTZ, 1914 AND Chlorella vulgaris BEIJERINCK, 1890. INCI [online]. 2006, vol.31, n.10, pp.753-757. ISSN 0378-1844.

Cladocera are microfiltering organisms, with a high potential to be used as alive food by diverse fish species, both in ornamental fish and intensive aquaculture. Therefore it is important the study of filtration and ingestion rates of Simocephalus vetulus (Müller, 1776), fed with fresh water green algae Selenastrum capricornutum Printz, 1914 and Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck, 1890 in concentrations of 4-500×10⁴cel/ml. The highest ingestion rates (1.04-1.92×10⁶cel/ind/h) were found in the highest densities of phytoplankton, of 3-5×10⁶cel/ml, whereas highest filtration rates were obtained in the lower food concentrations, between 4 and 64×10⁴cel/ml. Regarding the type of phytoplankton, it was found that S. vetulus filtered greater volumes of water (8.96ml/ind/h), when it was fed with C. vulgaris than S. capricornutum (2.02ml/ind/h). Also, a greater ingestion of cells of C. vulgaris (6.45×10⁵cel/ind/h) than S. capricornutum (4.01×10⁵cel/ind/h) was observed.

Palavras-chave : Acuicultura ; Cladocera ; Cultivo de Cladóceros ; Simocephalus vetulus ; Tasas de Ingestión y Filtración .