Predator-induced phenotypic plasticity in the exotic cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi

Summary 1. The exotic cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi has recently invaded freshwater systems throughout the United States. Daphnia lumholtzi possesses extravagant head spines that are longer than those found on any other North American Daphnia. These spines are effective at reducing predation from man...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Freshwater biology 2003-09, Vol.48 (9), p.1593-1602
Main Authors: Dzialowski, Andrew R., Lennon, Jay T., O'Brien, W.J., Smith, Val H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
biological invasions
Chaoborus punctipennis
Daphnia lumholtzi
Demecology
ephippia
Freshwater
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
kairomones
Lepomis macrochirus
phenotypic plasticity
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary 1. The exotic cladoceran Daphnia lumholtzi has recently invaded freshwater systems throughout the United States. Daphnia lumholtzi possesses extravagant head spines that are longer than those found on any other North American Daphnia. These spines are effective at reducing predation from many of the predators that are native to newly invaded habitats; however, they are plastic both in nature and in laboratory cultures. The purpose of this experiment was to better understand what environmental cues induce and maintain these effective predator‐deterrent spines. We conducted life‐table experiments on individual D. lumholtzi grown in water conditioned with an invertebrate insect predator, Chaoborus punctipennis, and water conditioned with a vertebrate fish predator, Lepomis macrochirus. 2. Daphnia lumholtzi exhibited morphological plasticity in response to kairomones released by both predators. However, direct exposure to predator kairomones during postembryonic development did not induce long spines in D. lumholtzi. In contrast, neonates produced from individuals exposed to Lepomis kairomones had significantly longer head and tail spines than neonates produced from control and Chaoborus individuals. These results suggest that there may be a maternal, or pre‐embryonic, effect of kairomone exposure on spine development in D. lumholtzi. 3. Independent of these morphological shifts, D. lumholtzi also exhibited plasticity in life history characteristics in response to predator kairomones. For example, D. lumholtzi exhibited delayed reproduction in response to Chaoborus kairomones, and significantly more individuals produced resting eggs, or ephippia, in the presence of Lepomis kairomones.
ISSN:0046-5070
1365-2427
DOI:10.1046/j.1365-2427.2003.01111.x