High-Density Culture of Meiobenthic Harpacticoid Copepods Within a Muddy Sediment Substrate

Abstract

Difficulties in producing a muddy substrate which does not easily foul have made previous efforts to culture mud-inhabiting, estuarine, and marine harpacticoid copepods unsuccessful. Natural, organic-rich muds are unsuitable as a long-term culture medium because they generate detrimental bacterial blooms in stagnant and periodically flushed culture systems. I present some simple procedures to (1) sort muddy sediments into a <125-μm size class, (2) flush away most dissolved organics, (3) sterilize the sediments providing a moderately foul-free culture medium, (4) generate a life-like, flocculent surface layer, and (5) allow easy observation above or below the sediment surface. Five harpacticoids were cultured within 45–90 d to densities 4–11 times their natural field maxima (per 10 cm2): Scottolana canadensis (372), Paronychocamptus huntsmani (380), Onychocamptus mohammed (448), Cletocamptus deitersi (1259), and Nitocra lacustris (1662). Since most mud-inhabiting harpacticoids are larger than 125 μm, simple sieving on a 125-μm screen eliminates culture sediments leaving behing hundreds of clean, easily collected harpacticoids.