| During ecological investigations on the optimum culturing conditions of ciliates, we studied the influence of a number of abiotic factors on the reproductive potential of the hypotrichous ciliate <i>Euplotes vannus</i> Muller, such as the nature and the quantity of food, the temperature and the salinity. The experiments were run in petri dishes of 5 cm diameter containing 5 ml of food suspension, and were always started with conjugants. The microphagous <i>Euplotes vannus</i> thrives on a variety of food media. Excellent results were observed on homogenized bakers yeast, i.e. 10.000-20.000 animals in 5 ml of food suspension. In good culturing conditions the stationary phase was reached in 7 days, which implicates a mean rate of... |
