The roles of some abiotic factors in controlling the hatching rates of Moina micrura ephippial eggs were investigated. Determination of optimum hatching conditions would be important in developing the use of this species as a food for fish larvae in aquaculture. Ephippia were exposed to different treatments in the laboratory, and monitored for hatching over a period of seven days. Optimum hatching conditions were: pH 5-9, temperature 25ºC, photoperiod eight or more hours light per day and light intensity equal to or greater than 850 lux. Differences in water ionic concentrations (from deionized water to 880 mg.L<FONT FACE=Symbol>-</FONT>1 of selected salts) had no effect.
Moina micrura; ephippia; encysted embryos; abiotic factors; egg hatching
