Culture of

Cladocerans
DR WAN NURUL NADIAH WAN RASDI
 antenna
1
compound eye
2
enzyme gland
3
esophagus
4
heart
5
nauplius eye
6
antennula
7
phyllopods
8
ovar
9
furca claws
10
postabdomen
11
brood
12
carapax shell
13
rudder bristle
14
spina
Daphnia spp. or ‘water fleas’ are easily
recognizable cladocerans among the
zooplankton.
Ceriodaphnia spp. are important
cladocerans
found in culture ponds.
Cladocerans in fish pond

 Cladocerans are desirable fish prey since they have

high energetic caloric value, assuming that they can
be consumed by fry.
 However, cladoceran populations usually decline
rapidly when subjected to predation by larval fish in
culture ponds (Geiger 1983b; Geiger et al. 1985).
 Egg-to-egg generation times:(7-8 days) at20oC
 Life span: life spans approximately 50 days
 The total young produced per adult lifespan is 400-600
 Cladocerans have the highest filtering rates, followed
by copepods and then by rotifers (Allan 1976).
 Fertilization for fish pond
To maintain the live feeds in the
• pond
Inorganic fertilizer
• Organic fertilizer
• nutrient-phytozoofish
Nitrogen fertilizer:
– Manures (e.g., cattle, poultry,
– Urea swine)
– Calcium nitrate – Hays (e.g., alfalfa, grass)
– Sodium nitrate – Meals (e.g., cottonseed,
soybean, bone, blood)
– Ammonium nitrate
• Phosporus fertilizer:
– Superphospate
– Triple superphospate
– Phosporic acid
Daphnia and Moina

 Different genus
 Brood pouch - completely close - Daphnia
 Brood pouch – open – Moina
 Moina are approximately half the maximum length of
Daphnia
 Adult Moina (700-1,000 µm), Young Moina (less than
400 µm),
Culture of Moina
Moina

 Moina are resistant to extremes in temperature - (5-

31° C)
 their optimum temperature is 24-31° C
 Food requirement : bacteria, yeast, phytoplankton
and detritus
 grow most rapidly in the presence of adequate
amounts of bacterial and yeast cells as well as
phytoplankton
Life Cycles of Moina

4-22 broods per

Under normal female (asexual
condition – reproduction)
population consists of
all females Broods are produced
every 1.5-2.0 days

Under adverse
Reproduce at 4-7days environmental
of age conditions, males are
produced

Sexual reproduction
occurs – resting eggs
(ephippia)
Population density in culture

 Daphnia - High population densities will result in

decrease in reproduction
 Maximum sustained density – 500/L
 Moina – 5000/L
 When fed with yeast and ammonium nitrate:
 Moina – average daily production - 106-110 g/m3
 Daphnia - 25-40 g/m3
Nutritional Value of Moina

 depending on their age and the type of food they are

receiving
 the protein content of Moina usually averages 50% of
the dry weight
 Adults normally have a higher fat content than
juveniles
 The total amount of fat per dry weight is 20-27% for
adult females and 4-6% for juveniles
Procedure for Moina Culture

Moina can be produced either in

Batch culture combination with their food or as separate
cultures. Combined culture is the simplest,
but production from separate cultures has
Semi-continuous cultures been reported to be approximately higher
Batch culture

 a new culture is started daily in a separate container

 Useful to maintain pure culture - less chance of the
cultures becoming contaminated with competitors
 Applicable when a specific quantity of Moina is
needed each day because daily production
Semi-continuous culture

 can be maintained for

 two months or more by daily partial harvests
 water changes and regular feeding
 When culture fail to respond to additional fertilization -
evident that they are not reproducing well, the Moina
should be completely harvested and a new culture
started.
Moina can be produced either in
combination with their food or as
separate cultures.

production from separate cultures

has been reported to be
approximately 1/3 higher than
combined culture

Tank arrangement for the separate culture

of Moina and its food.
Container

 Hobbyist : 10-gallon or (38-L) aquaria

 For larger scale and commercial operations: tanks or
vats (concrete, stainless steel, plastic or fiberglass) and
earthen ponds can be used
 Water depth should be no greater than 3 feet (0.9 m)
– optimum: 16–20 inches (0.4–0.5 m)
 shallow water depth allows good light penetration
and oxygen diffusion
 Tanks can be disinfected with a 30% solution of
muriatic acid or by drying in sunlight. Earthen ponds
should be drained and sun dried.
 Water
 Moina are extremely sensitive to pesticides, metals (e.g., copper and
zinc, which may be prevalent in municipal or well water),detergents,
bleaches and other toxic materials in the water supply
 Well water should be aerated for at least two hours.
 Municipal water should be aerated for at least two days to neutralize
the chlorine
 The optimum water temperature for Moina is 24–31° C
 low temperatures reduce production
 Gentle aeration
 A small trickle of fresh water into the culture container
may also improve production
Shading

 Light diffusion over 1/3 of water surface

 Green house + cloth shade (50-80% light reduction)
 For outdoor culture: use screen and roofing to avoid
rain water