Abstract
To assess the potential production of hybrids and backcrosses in a semi-natural environment, we studied the combined effect of fish kairomone, and food level on the production of males and ephippial females in different clones of five Daphnia taxa from the D. galeata species complex. We also studied the diel vertical migration (DVM) of these sexual daphnids under the same varying conditions. This was done to test the hypothesis that males and ephippial females have different migrating strategies, which would increase their mating probability. The study was carried out in two large-scale indoor mesocosms, the so-called ‘plankton towers’ in the Max-Planck Institute in Plön, Germany.
Although all of the Daphnia taxa produced ephippial females in the course of the experiment, only D. galeata produced a significant number of males. Fish kairomones had a significant negative influence on the production of ephippial females. We found no DVM in the D. galeata males. They stayed at a depth between 5 and 6 m both day and night, 1 or 2 m above the thermocline. The ephippial females of D. cucullata x hyalina migrated, whereas ephippial females of the other taxa showed no DVM but came significantly closer to the surface in the presence of fish kairomones. We conclude that males and sexual females co-occur in this species complex both in time and space. Therefore, a regular production of hybrids and backcrosses in this species complex seems likely. Fish kairomones do not seem to significantly influence this process.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berendonk, T., 1998. Chaoborus als Modellorganismus für den Vergleich von Metapopulationen und permanenten Populationen: experimentelle und molekularbiologische Untersuchungen. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Kiel, Kiel: 109 pp.
Boersma, M., P. Spaak & L. De Meester, 1998. Predator-mediated plasticity in morphology, life history and behavior of Daphnia: The uncoupling of responses. Am. Nat. 152: 237–248.
Brewer, M. C., 1998. Mating behaviours of Daphnia pulicaria, a cyclic parthenogen: comparisons with copepods. Phil. Trans. r. Soc. Lond. B 353: 805–815.
Carvalho, G. R. & R. N. Hughes, 1983. The effect of food availability, female culture-density and photoperiod on ephippia production in Daphnia magna Straus (Crustacea: Cladocera). Freshwat. Biol. 13: 37–46.
Colbourne, J. K. & P. D. N. Hebert, 1996. The systematics of North-American Daphnia (crustacea, anomopoda) - a molecular phylogenetic approach. Phil. Trans. r. Soc. Lond. B 351: 349–360.
De Meester, L., L. J. Weider & R. Tollrian, 1995. Alternative anti-predator defences and genetic polymorphism in a pelagic predator-prey system. Nature 378: 483–485.
Gerritsen, J., 1980. Sex and parthenogenesis in sparse populations. Am. Nat. 115: 718–742.
Gießler, S., 1997. Analysis of reticulate relationships within the Daphnia longispina species complex. Allozyme phenotype and morphology. J. Evol. Biol. 10: 87–105.
Hebert, P. D. N. & C. C. Wilson, 1994. Provincialism in plankton: endemism and allopatric speciation in Australian Daphnia. Evolution 48: 1333–1349.
Hobæk, A. & P. Larsson, 1990. Sex determination in Daphnia magna. Ecology 71: 2255–2268.
Innes, D. J. & R. L. Dunbrack, 1993. Sex allocation variation in Daphnia pulex. J. Evol. Biol. 6: 559–575.
Kleiven, O. T., P. Larsson & A. Hobæk, 1992. Sexual reproduction in Daphnia magna requires three stimuli. Oikos 65: 197–206.
Korpelainen, H., 1989. The effects of periodically changing temperature and photoperiod conditions on reproduction and sex ratio of Daphnia magna (Crustacea: Cladocera). Zool. Beitr. N.F. 32: 247–260.
Lampert, W. & C. J. Loose, 1992. Plankton towers - bridging the gap between laboratory and field experiments. Arch. Hydrobiol. 126: 53–66.
Loose, C. J., 1993. Daphnia diel vertical migration behavior: response to vertebrate predator abundance. Arch. Hydrobiol. Beih. Ergebn. Limnol. 39: 29–36.
Loose, C. J., E. Von Elert & P. Dawidowicz, 1993. Chemicallyinduced diel vertical migration in Daphnia - a new bioassay for kairomones exuded by fish. Arch. Hydrobiol. 126: 329–337.
Mellors, W. K., 1975. Selective predation of ephippial Daphnia and the resistance of ephippial eggs to digestion. Ecology 56: 974–980.
Pijanowska, J., 1997. Alarm signals in Daphnia. Oecologia 112: 12–16.
Pijanowska, J. & G. Stolpe, 1996. Summer diapause in Daphnia as a reaction to the presence of fish. J. Plankton Res. 18: 1407–1412.
Proctor, V. W., 1964. Viability of crustacean eggs recovered from ducks. Ecology 45: 656–658.
Ringelberg, J., 1991. A mechanism of predator-mediated induction of diel vertical migration in Daphnia hyalina. J. Plankton Res. 13: 83–89.
Schwenk, K., 1997. Evolutionary genetics of Daphnia species complexes - hybridism in syntopy. PhD Thesis, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands: 141 pp.
Schwenk, K. & P. Spaak, 1995. Evolutionary and ecological consequences of interspecific hybridization in cladocerans. Experientia 51: 465–481.
Ślusarczyk, M., 1995. Predator-induced diapause in Daphnia. Ecology 76: 1008–1013.
Ślusarczyk, M., 1999. Predator-induced diapause in Daphnia magna may require two chemical cues. Oecologia 119: 159–165.
Sokal, R. R. & F. J. Rohlf, 1995. Biometry. W.H. Freeman and Co, San Francisco U.S.A.: 887 pp.
Spaak, P., 1995. Sexual reproduction in Daphnia: interspecific differences in a hybrid species complex. Oecologia 104: 501–507.
Spaak, P., 1996. Temporal changes in the genetic structure of the Daphnia species complex in Tjeukemeer, with evidence for backcrossing. Heredity 76: 539–548.
Spaak, P., 1997. Hybridization in the Daphnia galeata complex: are hybrids locally produced? Hydrobiologia 360: 127–133.
Spaak, P., J. Vanoverbeke & M. Boersma, 2000. Predator induced life history changes and the coexistence of five taxa in a Daphnia species complex. Oikos 89: 164–174.
Stich, H. B., 1989. Seasonal changes of diel vertical migration of crustacean plankton in Lake Constance. Arch. Hydrobiol. Mon. Stud. 83: 355–405.
Stich, H. B. & W. Lampert, 1981. Predator evasion as an explanation of diurnal vertical migration by zooplankton. Nature 293: 396–398.
Taylor, D. J. & P. D. N. Hebert, 1992. Daphnia galeata mendotae as a cryptic species complex with interspecific hybrids. Limnol. Oceanogr. 37: 658–665.
Weider, L. J. & H. B. Stich, 1992. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of Daphnia in Lake Constance; intra-and interspecific comparisons. Limnol. Oceanogr. 37: 1327–1334.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Spaak, P., Boersma, M. The influence of fish kairomones on the induction and vertical distribution of sexual individuals of the Daphnia galeata species complex. Hydrobiologia 442, 185–193 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017578221814
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017578221814