Differences in the effects of salinity on larval growth and developmental programs of a freshwater and a euryhaline mosquito species (Insecta: Diptera,Culicidae)

Abstract

intermediate salinities. Growth rates of A. aegypti decrease with increasing salinity, and percent body water is constant across salinities. As for O. taeniorhynchus, duration of A. aegypti larval stage increases at high salinity. However, this increase in larval stage duration cannot compensate for the decrease in growth rate at high salinity, resulting in an overall decrease in both wet and dry pupal mass at high salinity. Thus, salinity has fundamentally different effects on developmental programs and phenotypic plasticity in the two species investigated.

Sub-lethal and chronic salinity tolerances of three freshwater insects: Cloeon sp. and Centroptilum sp. (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae)and Chironomus sp. (Diptera: Chironomidae)

“…Inverted U-shaped growth patterns in response to salinity have been observed in freshwater snails (Jacobsen and Forbes, 1997;Kefford and Nugegoda, 2005) and mosquitoes (Clark et al, 2004;McGinnis and Brust, 1983). However, in the salt tolerant damselfly I. heterosticta, growth followed a step (or step then ramp) function, with low salinities having no effect on growth, intermediate salinities resulting in maximum growth, and at very high salinities reduced growth and eventually mortality (Kefford et al, 2006).…”

“…However, in an investigation of sub-lethal salinity tolerance, growth in the freshwater gastropod Physa acuta was observed to be lower in low (р0.05·mS·cm -1 ) and high (>1.0·mS·cm -1 ) salinities than in intermediate salinities (Kefford and Nugegoda, 2005). And in a study of mosquitoes, changes in mass and larval stage duration with increased salinity were reported (Clark et al, 2004). Two species of mosquitoes were investigated, one being the euryhaline Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus, which displayed increases in pupal mass and larval stage duration as salinity increased, and the other was the freshwater Aedes aegypti, which displayed a decrease in pupal mass as salinity increased, and a U-shaped pattern of larval duration (being most rapid at intermediate salinities).…”

Impact of the Salinity Gradient on the Mollusc Fauna in Flooded Mine Subsidences (Karvina, Czech Republic)

“…As evidenced by the previous research, the impact exerted by the increased salinity on freshwater organisms [7,10,23,31] is currently a worldwide environmental issue, including in particular the protection of biodiversity of freshwater organisms. Although the study by Kefford et al [22] also proved that the tolerance of freshwater organisms to salinity does not differ signifi cantly, it is necessary to verify this statement and compare it on a global scale.…”

Salinity as a driver of aquatic invertebrate colonisation behaviour and distribution in the wheatbelt of Western Australia

“…(Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) decreases (Hassell et al, 2006); developmental rates and survival are reduced for Chironomus sp. (Diptera: Chironomidae) (Hassell et al, 2006), Aedes taeniorhynchus Wiedemann and Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae) (Clark et al, 2004); and survival is reduced for Culex australicus Dobrotworsky and Drummond and Aedes camptorhynchus Thomson (Diptera: Culicidae) (van Schie, unpublished data). This article examines the influence of salinity on colonisation of water bodies by insect taxa using a manipulative mesocosm experiment in the field (Fig.…”