| The brackish-water nematodes <i>Monhystera disjuncta</i> and <i>Monhystera microphtalma</i> were chosen as test organisms for ecotoxicological studies. Both species are locally abundant, have short life cycles and can be maintained for several generations under laboratory conditions. They reproduce very well on a sloppy bacto-agar (0.5-0.8%) made up with water of the natural habitat, enriched with 1% Vlasblom medium (Vlasblom, pers. commun.) and 1% silicium (15g.l<sup>-1</sup>), reaching densities of approximately 1000 individuals.cm<sup>-2</sup>. Starting from such agnotobiotic cultures, a chemically defined artificial medium has been developed. This medium consists of 0.5% bacto-agar in artificial seawater,... |
