Demographic responses of adult Mesocyclops thermocyclopoides (Copepoda, Cyclopoida) to different plant and animal diets

1. We studied the effects of food type on adult females of the cyclopoid copepod Mesocyclops thermocyclopoides. 2. The test diets, covering a size range of 5–1250 μm, included a toxic strain of Microcystis aeruginosa , three algae (i.e. Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus acutus and Chlorogonium elongatum ), three ciliates (i.e. Tetrahymena pyriformis, Stylonychia notophora and S. mytilus ), two rotifers (i.e. Brachionus angularis and B. calyciflorus ) and two cladocerans (i.e. Ceriodaphnia cornuta and Moina macrocopa ), and a selected subset of them in a second experiment. 3. Experimental diets were started with the last juvenile instar (C5) and data were collected on the newly moulted adult females. The survival of the copepod was less affected by food type than its reproductive output. Net reproductive rate was significantly higher with animal than with plant food. Algal diets enriched with organic extracts supported higher reproductive rates than unenriched diets of the same algal species. The large and motile alga Chlorogonium gave performances which approached those of ciliate diets. 4. The pre‐reproductive period of M. thermocyclopoides was shorter and its post‐reproductive period longer with animal than with plant diets, the latter being chiefly caused by a briefer period between clutches. 5. The frequency of infertile clutches increased in later clutches, indicating possible sperm limitation in females which have mated only once. 6. There was a significant, positive correlation between the size of food particles and the lifetime reproductive output of M. thermocyclopoides , with more than an order of magnitude difference in the total fecundity between the largest and the smallest food items. 7. Mesocyclops thermocyclopoides achieved the highest total fecundity with ‘mixed’ food, and thus, reflected the adaptive value of omnivory for this species.