Specific Turbulence- and Chaoborus-Induced Morphotypes Affect the Streamlining Properties of Daphnia cucullata

Abstract

Inducible defenses are a wide-spread defensive mechanism in Daphnia. For example, D. cucullata is known to form different adaptive morphologies under changing environmental conditions. In this species, predator presence elicits defensive helmets. Defended animals perform better and survive more frequently in predation attempts. Another peculiarity of D. cucullata is that they develop these defenses also in response to turbulence. The mechanisms that underly this defensive effect are so far unclear. Therefore, we investigated the three-dimensional morphology of the typical, the turbulence- and Chaoborus-exposed morph and analyzed their surface and volume alterations. We furthermore measured the swimming velocities of these morphs. With the determined shapes and the measured velocities, we simulated the drag force under different angles of attack and determined the energy necessary to move through the water. In the light of previous findings and hypotheses we here discuss biomechanical mechanisms that improve D. cucullata’s fitness in the investigated environments.

Behavioural Responses of Defended and Undefended Prey to Their Predator—A Case Study of Rotifera

“…Based on morphological and hydrodynamic considerations, we expected a change in swimming behaviour in the presence of spines as found in defended Daphnia cucullata [ 50 ]. However, we found only an effect of body length on swimming speed but not of spine length.…”