Life Cycle
California fairy shrimp tend to live in large, fairly clear vernal pools and lakes. However, they can survive in clear to turbid water with pH of 6.1–8.5, and they have been found in very small pools. They are tolerant of water temperatures from 5–29 °C (41–84 °F), making them the most heat tolerant fairy shrimp in California.
Female fairy shrimp carry their eggs in a ventral brood sac. The eggs are either dropped to the pool bottom or remain in the brood sac until the mother dies and sinks. When the pool dries out, so do the eggs. They remain in the dry pool bed until rains and other environmental stimuli hatch them.
Resting fairy shrimp eggs are known as cysts. They are capable of withstanding heat, cold and prolonged desiccation. When the pools refill, some, but not all, of the cysts may hatch. The cyst bank in the soil may contain cysts from several years of breeding.
Average time to maturity is about forty-five days. Thirty-one seems to be the minimum time required, which is the longest minimum for any Central Valley fairy shrimp. Adults have been collected from late December to early May.
Read more about this topic: Linderiella Occidentalis
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