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A “crown of thorns” is an inducible defense that protects Daphnia against an ancient predator

Publication at Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
2009

Abstract

The crown of thorns, a conspicuous morphological feature among water fleas of the Daphnia atkinsoni species complex (Crustacea: Cladocera), is considered to represent a species-specific trait. However, our study, initiated by the analysis of sequence variation in 2 mitochondrial genes, shows that this feature is phenotypically plastic and is induced by chemical cues released by Triops cancriformis, the tadpole shrimp (Notostraca).