Dormant stages of crustaceans as a mechanism of propagation in the extreme and unpredictable environment in the Crimean hypersaline lakes

Abstract

A pool of dormant stages of planktonic organisms in saline lakes is a substantial component in the plankton communities; we need to take it into account to understand plankton dynamics. Hypersaline water bodies in Crimea, the largest peninsula in the Black Sea, constitute a very characteristic and peculiar habitat type in the region. We examined the presence of crustacean resting stages in sediments of dried up sites of the Crimean hypersaline lakes. Sediment samples were taken in 9 different lakes. Experiments performed on the hatching of these resting stages showed the presence of Moina salina (Cladocera), parthenogenetic Artemia and Artemia urmiana (Anostraca), Eucypris mareotica (inflata) (Ostracoda), and Cletocamptus retrogressus (Harpacticoida). Comparing the experimental results obtained with clean dried brine shrimp cysts and those kept in sediment samples, it was noted that clean cysts hatched much faster than those from sediments did. Some components in bottom sediments slow down and desynchronize hatching from resting eggs in different groups of crustaceans. The sediments of different lakes inhibited the nauplii output from Artemia and ostracod resting eggs to different degrees. More data are needed before we can discuss the reasons of this inhibition. The nonsynchronous output of active stages from the bottom resting ones may be an adaptation that allows crustacean species to exist in extreme and unpredictably changing environments, avoiding the risk that all may emerge at once under unsuitable conditions.