Population ecology of Cyprideis torosa (Jones, 1850) in a hypersaline environment of the Western Mediterranean (Santa Pola, Alacant) (Crustacea: Ostracoda)

Abstract The life cycle of the ostracod Cyprideis torosa was studied in a hypersaline environment at Santa Pola, a coastal salt marsh of the Western Mediterranean. Benthic samples were obtained monthly and several environmental factors were recorded simultaneously in situ. In Santa Pola, C. torosa is able to produce eggs all year round and, in contrast with previous studies, showed a bivoltine reproductive pattern. The first generation, starting from eggs produced in spring, attains adult size after a mean time of 154 days. The second generation, starting in autumn, developed more slowly, attaining adulthood after 196 days on average. The malerfemale sex ratio is below 1 in spring and autumn, when maximum reproduction took place, and it was not different from one after these periods. The mean shell size of adult individuals underwent significant changes throughout the year: late winter males and females are the longest. Those adult individuals that remained alive after the spring reproductive period showe...