Abstract

The crustacean zooplankton in Chilean Patagonian lakes is characterized by a marked dominance of calanoid copepods when under an oligotrophic status. The aim of the present study was to analyse the number of eggs and the relation of that feature with the total length of females of calanoid and cyclopoid copepods reported in three northern Chilean Patagonian lakes. The calanoid copepods found were Boeckella gracilipes in Lake Pellaifa and Tumeodiaptomus diabolicus in the lakes Panguipulli and Calafquen, whereas the cyclopoid Mesocyclops araucanus was found in the lakes Pellaifa and Calafquen. For calanoid copepods, high egg numbers were found and thus also a high value for the ratio of egg number per female length in Lake Panguipulli, whereas for M. araucanus a high value was found in Lake Pellaifa. These differences would presumably be associated with community structure, specifically predator-prey relationships and possibly other interactions, as, e.g., potential interspecific competition.