Growth of Daphnia magna (crustacea : cladocera)‎ under different diet conditions

الملخص EN

Samples of Daphnia magna were collected from a ponds in Basrah.

A successful culture was built in the laboratory using glass aquarium.

The animals were fed on a diet of sheep manure, yeast and wheat bran under laboratory conditions.

The results of this study indicate that the sheep manure seems to be the best diet for this species.

The mean lengths of adults were 3.

80, 3.

42 and 3.

21 mm.

in sheep manure, yeast and wheat bran respectively.

The maximum life span were 69, 47 and 40 days respectively.

The number of preadult instars was between 4-7 while that of the adult seems to be about 10 instars.

The duration of each instar was 2-5 days.