The growth and reproduction of
Plectus sp. and
Rhabditis sp., the most frequent detected nematodes from tap water, were investigated at different conditions. Only females of
Plectus sp. were found, but most of
Rhabditis sp. were. self-fertilizing hermaphrodite while males were rare. It was found that
Plectus sp. and
Rhabditis sp. did not reproduced well or survived when temperature was below 5°C and/or above 35°C, respectively. It is shown that pH range for reproduction of
Rhabditis sp. was wider than
Plectus sp. The specific growth rate of
Rhabditis sp. was still high even at pH4 or pH9, whereas that of
Plectus sp. was very low or not observed at these conditions. Inoculated concentrations of bacteria (
E. coli C600) as food highly influenced to the egg-laying of both nematodes. However, the mortality of
Rhabditis sp. was far larger than
Plectus sp. at the same bacterial concentrations. At 20°C, pH6 and inoculated bacterial concentrations of 10
8 cells·m
l-1, the specific growth rates of
Plectus sp. and
Rhabditis sp. were 1.0 and 0.6d
-1, respectively.
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