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Contemporary Problems of Ecology

2010 year, number 1

Postembryonal Morphological Variability of Daphnia galeata in Water Reservoirs of Different Types

E. I. Zuikova, N. A. Bochkarev
Keywords: Daphnia galeata, ontogenesis, morphological variability, body shape
Pages: 41-55

Abstract

In spite of numerous ecological investigations, the limits of intra- and interpopulation morphological variability of the species of Daphnia genus remain poorly investigated; as a consequence, systematics of the genus remains a knotted problem. This is especially true for the species with clearly exhibited variability of body length, for example Daphnia galeata. Investigation of the ontogenetic morphological variability of this species was carried out. As a result, general regularities in variation of body shape in different populations were revealed. The morphotypes of size and age groups of D. galeata turned out to be more variable in the mouth of the Kargat river (the basin of Lake Chany) than in Lake Todzha (the basin of the Bol'shoy Enisey river), however, the growth of such indices as helmet and caudal needle was described by the allometric function and their absolute size decreased with age in the daphnia from both water basins. It is shown that the first mature size-and-age group of D. galeata is most suitable for the investigation of the population morphological variability.