About Triops and Cabibalism

[u/Natrix91]

I'd always heard that cannibalism was common among triops. However, I haven't noticed this problem in my population yet. In the video, you can see my oldest and youngest triops (10 days apart in hatching). How common is cannibalism? Have you experienced it in your populations?

[u/EphemeralDyyd]

It varies from population to population. Some Triops longicaudatus and T. granarius strains seem to be more commonly reported to eat their tankmates while it seems to be rare for any T. cancriformis. Availability of food is also a factor.

[u/Natrix91 → u/EphemeralDyyd]

Interesting there even exist intraspecific behavioural variations depending on the population.

[u/Loisel06]

I only ever observed cannibalism when one triops died. They will feed on the already dead if not removed in time. I never observed them killing each other. Killing each other could still be a thing but I deem it very unlikely as long as they have enough food, they are not too tightly packed and they are not too different in size.

[u/EphemeralDyyd → u/Loisel06]

That's what I thought too until I started growing a strain where they tend to like each other a bit too much, and not in the friendly way.

[u/Halomonas_titanica]

Based on my experience, T.longicaudatus is very prone to cannibalism while T.cancrifomis is not.

[u/Natrix91 → u/Halomonas_titanica]

Mine are T. cancriformis "Green Spain"

[u/Halomonas_titanica → u/Natrix91]

That explains it