Abstract In the laboratory, we examined the effects of food types and temperatures on the growth and reproduction of the copepod Apocyclops royi. Three types of experiments were conducted: (1) effects of food type using four microalgae, Chaetoceros muelleri, Isochrysis galbana, Tetraselmis chui and Nannochloropsis oculata, and seven artificial feeds, BP-1000E, GSP-500, Micro-Mac£s30, Algamac-2000, DHA-Protein Selco, Culture Selco, and Baker's yeast; (2) effects of feeding frequency of artificial diets; and (3) effects of temperature. The survival rate, development time, longevity, female ratio, reproduction duration and fecundity were used to assess the responses of copepod. The results showed that growth and reproduction of copepods fed with algae, exclusive of Nannochloropsis oculata, are better than those fed with artificial diets. The copepods fed with T. chui grew fastest, matured in average 8.7 days after hatching and have the maximal fecundity, 13.5 nauplii/female/day. Among artificial diets, copepods fed with Culture Selco have the highest survival, 70.8¢M, which is comparable to those fed with alage, but took longer time, 17.5 day in average, to become matured. Those fed with Micro-Mac£s30 have the higher fecundity but only 9.1 nauplii/female/day. After changing feeding frequency from one to three times a day, the survival rate of those fed with BP-1000E and DHA-Protein Selco was significantly improved but it was still lower than those fed with Culture Selco once per day. Although the production of copepods fed with DHA-Protein Selco increased, it was still lower than those fed with Micro-Mac£s30. When cultured at 25, 30 and 35¢J, the survival rate and production of copepod A. royi were not affected by temperature but the maturation time decreased with increasing temperature. At 35 ¢J, females became matured in 6.7 day and the fecundity is 14.2 napulii/female/day. In conclusion, food type is the major factor affecting growth and reproduction of A. royi and algae is the better food in this study. Temperature mainly affects the growth rate. High water temperature can increase growth rate and shorten the maturation time. In addition, our studies also found that the food containing higher contents of protein did not assure better survival rate or reproduction of copepod. The algae T. Chui barely containing DHA did not cause the lower survival rate or reduced reproduction. In term of growth rate and production, the estuarine copepod A. royi is a potential food organism for mass culture.