Turkish Journal of Zoology
Abstract
The population dynamics of the Asian invasive copepod Sinodiaptomus sarsi were studied for four years after its introduction into an artificial pond in Kyiv (Ukraine) in 2020. The growth and development parameters of this species were measured under laboratory conditions. From its first appearance in spring 2020, the abundance of copepodite stages and adults increased from 3.5–5.2 individuals (ind.) m–3 to 1057.8 ind. m–3 in June 2024, suggesting the successful establishment of S. sarsi populations in this region. A characteristic feature of S. sarsi development in ponds is a male-biased sex ratio in the later copepodite stages. The sex ratio of adults grown in the laboratory at 23 °C was also skewed toward males. The sizes of all developmental stages, from egg to adult, reared in the laboratory were similar to those of S. sarsi living in rivers of northeastern China. Males developed faster than females. Postembryonic development times (from first nauplii to adult males and females) were 12.3 and 13.3 days, respectively. Body weight of nauplii increased from 0.0010 ± 0.0003 mg in the nauplii I to 0.179 ± 0.026 and 0.293 ± 0.079 mg, in adult males and females, respectively, according to the exponential model ln (M, mg) = 0.43 × D (development time, days) – 7.4. Mass-specific growth rates varied from 0.38 d–1 in nauplii to 0.54 d–1 in adult females. These stage-specific data on functional traits help us understand the biology of invasive species and can be incorporated into models to simulate and predict population and community dynamics. A special section is devoted to methods for determining the body volume of nauplii and copepodites of S. sarsi.
Author ORCID Identifier
LEONID SVETLICHNY: 0000-0001-9224-6371
KAMİL ERYALÇIN: 0000-0002-8336-957X
MELEK İŞİNİBİLİR OKYAR: 0000-0002-1200-6878
DOI
10.55730/1300-0179.3258
Keywords
Sinodiaptomus sarsi, development, growth rate, invasive species, sex ratio
First Page
136
Last Page
150
Publisher
The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
SVETLICHNY, L, ERYALÇIN, K. M, & İŞİNİBİLİR OKYAR, M (2026). Stage-specific growth characteristics of the calanoid copepod invader Sinodiaptomus sarsi. Turkish Journal of Zoology 50 (3): 136-150. https://doi.org/10.55730/1300-0179.3258
