Abstract
The large nematode Oncholaimus oxyuris Ditlevsen, 1911 is a dominant predator in a shallow polyhaline brackish-water pond in Belgium. The reproductive potential of this species was calculated as the intrinsic rate of natural increase r=1/D In pN e , in which D is the generation time, p is the percentage of females, and N e is the number of eggs per female. The generation time varies between 570 days at 5°C and 101 days at 25°C and is the main factor in the determination of r. The relationship between r and temperature is nearly linear and is given by r=0.0013 T−0.0042. The reproductive potential of O. oxyuris is much lower than would be predicted from body size; this and the dominance of males in the population, is discussed in the light of the evolution of stable predator-prey systems.
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Communicated by O. Kinne, Hamburg
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Heip, C., Smol, N. & Absillis, V. Influence of temperature on the reproductive potential of Oncholaimus oxyuris (Nematoda: Oncholaimidae). Mar. Biol. 45, 255–260 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390608
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390608