ESTIMATING SECONDARY PRODUCTION FOR THE BRACKISH WESTERSCHELDE COPEPOD POPULATION EURYTEMORA-AFFINIS (POPPE) COMBINING EXPERIMENTAL-DATA AND FIELD OBSERVATIONS

Eurytemora affinis (Poppe) (Copepoda : Calanoida) development is studi ed through cultures supplied with naturally occurring particulate matt er (Western Schelde estuary) and kept at six constant temperatures in the range 2-20-degrees-C. At 2-degrees-C the copepods do not reach the copepodite stages and at 5-degrees-C, do not develop further than the fourth copepodite stage. A field production estimate is given combini ng the biomass present in the field and weight specific growth rates d erived from the culture experiment. The P/B obtained are very close wi th those measured for the same species in other estuaries.