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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 974

Helga Muller and Walter Geller; Maximum growth rates of aquatic ciliated protozoa: the dependence on body size and temperature reconsidered. Arch.Hydrobiol. 126(3):315-327, 1993

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Maximum growth rates [r(m)] of three algivorous freshwater ciliates were determined at 6 temperatures between 5.5 degrees C and 21.5 degrees C. Over this range, r(m) increased from 0.46 to 1.72 day-1 in Urotoricha furcata, from 0.03 to 0.90 day-1 in Pelagostrombidium fallax, and from 0.43 to 1.42 day-1 in Strobilidium lacustris. The influence of temperature (T) and cell volume (V) on ciliate maximum growth rates was tested by multiple regression analysis using our own data and data from various references (n=102). The two independent variables T and V explained together 63% of the total variance observed ciliate r(m) values.