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Longevity of Daphnia magna males and females

  • BIOLOGY OF CLADOCERA
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Abstract

In many species, males are shorter-lived than females, and, mostly anecdotally, shorter lifespan was also attributed to Daphnia males. This does not necessarily stay in accordance with the biological roles of the sexes in Daphnia. Daphnia females maximize their fitness by maximizing the number of produced offspring, which incurs costs associated with quick attainment of large body size: metabolic costs of fast growth and increased risk of predation. In contrast, Daphnia males maximize fitness by maximizing the number of fertilized females, and seem to follow the strategy that enables them to maximize the lifetime female encounter rate, which should increase with lengthening lifespan. As arguments exist both in favour and against males living longer than females, we tested for differences in physiological lifespan of Daphnia magna males and females. Although maximum observed lifespan was always equal or longer in males than in females, no statistically significant differences were found. The results indicate that Daphnia males should not be considered short-lived anymore.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank the two anonymous reviewers and Joanna Pijanowska for valuable comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education grants N304 005 32/0647 and N N304 094135.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hydrobiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2, 02-097, Warsaw, Poland

    Barbara Pietrzak, Anna Bednarska & Małgorzata Grzesiuk

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  1. Barbara Pietrzak
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  2. Anna Bednarska
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  3. Małgorzata Grzesiuk
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Correspondence to Barbara Pietrzak.

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Guest editors: M. Silva-Briano & S. S. S. Sarma / Biology of Cladocera (Crustacea): Proceedings of the VIII International Cladocera Symposium

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Pietrzak, B., Bednarska, A. & Grzesiuk, M. Longevity of Daphnia magna males and females. Hydrobiologia 643, 71–75 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0138-6

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