Past, present, and future roles of small cladoceran Bosmina longirostris (O. F. Müller, 1785) in aquatic ecosystems

Abstract

Bosmina longirostris is a small-bodied, filter-feeding cladoceran. The species is widely distributed throughout the world in temperate and tropical climates, where it persists in all kinds of freshwater bodies regardless of their trophy, acidification, or salinity. Its wide distribution causes B. longirostris to be one of the most taxonomically recognizable Cladocera species all over the world, despite the fact that the species is a well-known example of a taxon with confused taxonomy. Although B. longirostris often displays high abundances in the world's freshwaters and sporadic studies on its feeding suggest that the species can have an important role in energy transfer throughout the food web, B. longirostris is still perceived by scientists as having a minor role in the classical food web structure. This perception of B. longirostris as a food web component could be altered in the near future due to global climatic changes, including increases in temperature which may cause cyanobacterial blooms that may be more harmful to Daphnia than B. longirostris. The response of B. longirostris to environmental, competitive, and predatory conditions has been repeatedly studied to search for application of that species as indicator in ecological, neolimnological, and paleolimnological research. Regardless of its common use as test species in ecological and limnological studies, B. longirostris still lacks appropriate study by researchers because of its problematic systematics. Research directed at this species seems to be hampered by the absence of an accurate taxonomical revision of B. longirostris or group of cryptic species called B. longirostris.

Macrophytes moderate the taxonomic and functional composition of phytoplankton assemblages during a nutrient loading experiment

“…These observations support the contention that bosminids feed well on small-bodied prey (Adamczuk, 2016). For example, the peaks in phytoplankton in the macrophyte absent ponds by two different dominant taxa over the course of time can also be explained in reference to the shifts in the zooplankton assemblages.…”

Planktonic Invertebrates in the Assessment of Long-Term Change in Water Quality of the Sorbulak Wastewater Disposal System (Kazakhstan)

“…D. magna is able to minimize the food stress caused by the filamentous cyanobacteria by setae thickening [74]. Although B. longirostris is common species in cyanobacterial blooms [81], it is probably unable to compete with such a large cladoceran species as D. magna.…”

Diversity of the Bosmina (Cladocera: Bosminidae) in China, revealed by analysis of two genetic markers (mtDNA 16S and a nuclear ITS)

“…Some cladocerans, such as B. fatalis , may be relicts with restricted-range (endemic), whereas others, commonly and widely distributed within their extensive primary ranges, possiblely are not [2]. We found close relatives among B. longirostris lineages from China, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Japan and the USA, which suggested that B. longirostris is widespread in the Holarctic region [42]. Therefore, B. longirostris should be an advanced lineage and have a non-relict status, which affected by current climate [43].…”