Abstract
Zooplankton collections from offshore Lake Victoria during the early to mid 1990s contained a Ctenodaphnia species that is morphologically similar to Daphnia monacha (D. lumholtzi var. monacha) which is present in Lakes Edward and Albert. Direct comparison of the Lake Victoria specimens with representative D. monacha from the Rift Valley lakes reveals that the taxa are not the same, however. Instead, the Lake Victoria animals conform more closely to the morphology of Daphnia magna. The large body size of D. magna makes it unlikely that it was overlooked by previous investigators of the lake. Instead, it appears that food web alterations of Lake Victoria created occasional conditions of relaxed planktivory by fish to such a degree that an herbivore of unusually large size could establish viable populations. The observation runs counter to prevailing paradigms about the small size structure of tropical zooplankton communities compared with those in temperate zones. The observation is consistent with claims that biological interactions rather than physical and chemical factors are the typical determinants of zooplankton size structure in the tropics.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Benzie, J. A. H. (1988) The systematics of Australian Daphnia (Cladocera: Daphniidae). Species descriptions and keys. Hydrobiologia 166, 95–161.
Branstrator, D. K., Ndawula, L. M., and Lehman, J.T. (1996) Zooplankton dynamics in Lake Victoria, in T. C. Johnson and E. O. Odada (eds.), The Limnology, Climatology and Paleoclimatology of the East African Lakes. Gordon and Breach Publishers, pp. 337–355.
Brehm, V. (1959) Cladocera. Exploration hydrobiologique des Lacs Kivu, Edouard et Albert (1952–1954) 3 (3), 69–100.
Drenner, R. W., Strickler, J.R. and O’Brien., W.J. (1978) Capture probability: the role of zooplankter escape in the selective feeding of planktivorous fish. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 35, 1370–1373.
Dumont, H. J. (1986) The Tanganyika sardine in Lake Kivu: another ecodisaster for Africa? Environmental Conservation 13, 143–148.
Gliwicz, Z. M. (1985) Predation or food limitation: an ultimate reason for extinction of planktonic cladoceran species. Archiv Hydrobiologie Beih. Ergebnisse Limnologie 21, 419–430.
Gliwicz, Z. M. (1994) Relative significance of direct and indirect effects of predation by planktivorous fish on zooplankton. Hydrobiologia 272, 201–210.
Green, J. (1967) The distribution and variation of Daphnia lumholtzi (Crustacea: Cladocera) in relation to fish predation in Lake Albert, East Africa. Journal of Zoology 151, 181–197.
Green, J. (1971) Associations of Cladocera in the zooplankton of the lake sources of the White Nile. Journal of Zoology 165, 373–414.
Kolar, C. S. and Wahl, D.H. (1998) Daphnid morphology deters fish predators. Oecologia 116, 556–564.
Lehman, J. T. (1996) Pelagic food webs of the African Great Lakes, in T. C. Johnson and E. O. Odada (eds.), The Limnology, Climatology and Paleoclimatology of the East African Lakes. Gordon and Breach Publishers, pp. 281–301.
Lehman, J. T. (1998a) Role of climate in the modern condition of Lake Victoria. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 61, 29–37.
Lehman, J. T. (ed.) (1998b) Environmental Change and Response in East African Lakes. Kluwer.
Lowe-Mcconnell R. (1997) EAFRO and after: A guide to key events affecting fish communities in Lake Victoria. South African Journal of Science 93, 570–574.
Marshall, B. E. (1991) The impact of the introduced sardine Limnothrissa miodon on the ecology of Lake Kariba. Biological Conservation 55, 151–165.
Mavuti, K. and Litterick, M.R.. (1991) Composition, distribution and ecological role of zooplankton community in Lake Victoria, Kenya waters. Verhandlungen Internationale Vereinigung Limnologie 24, 1117–1122.
Mookerji, N., Heller, C., Meng, H.J., Buergi, H.R. and Mueller. R. (1998) Diel and seasonal patterns of food intake and prey selection by Coregonus sp. in re-oligotrophicated Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. Journal of Fish Biology 52, 443–457.
Mwebaza-Ndawula, L. (1994) Changes in relative abundance of zooplankton in northern Lake Victoria, East Africa. Hydrobiologia 272, 259–264.
Nassal, B., Burghard, W. and Maier, G. (1998) Predation by juvenile roach on the calanoid copepod Eudiaptomus gracilis and the cyclopoid copepod Cyclops vicinus: A laboratory investigation with mixed and single prey. Aquatic Ecology 32, 335–340.
Rzoska, J. (1957) Notes on the crustacean plankton of Lake Victoria. Proc. Linnean Soc. London 168, 116–125.
Rzoska, J. (1975) Zooplankton of the Nile system, in J. Rzoska (ed.) The Nile, Biology of an Ancient River. Junk, pp. 333–344.
Swaffar, S. M. and O’Brien, W.J. (1996) Spines of Daphnia lumholtzi create feeding difficulties for juvenile bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). Journal of Plankton Research 18, 1055–1061.
Tollrian, R. (1994) Fish-kairomone induced morphological changes in Daphnia lumholtzi (sars). Archiv für Hydrobiologia 130, 69–75.
Viitasalo, M., T. Kiorboe, T., Flinkman, J., Pedersen, L.W. and Visser, A.W. (1998) Predation vulnerability of planktonic copepods: Consequences of predator foraging strategies and prey sensory abilities. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 175, 129–142.
Wagler, E. (1936) Die Systematik und geographische Verbreitung des Genus Daphnia O. F. Müller mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der südafrikanischen Arten. Archiv für Hydrobiologie 30, 505–556.
Witte, F., Goldschmidt, T., Wanink, J., Van Oijen, M., Goudswaard, K., Witte Maas, E. and Bouton, N. (1992) The destruction of an endemic species flock: Quantitative data on the decline of the haplochromine cichlids of Lake Victoria. Environmental Biology of Fishes 34, 1–28.
Worthington, E. B. (1931) Vertical movements of freshwater zooplankton. Internationale Revue gesamten Hydrobiologie 25, 394–436.
Worthington, E. B. and Ricardo, C.K. (1936) Scientific results of the Cambridge expedition to the East African lakes, 1930–1. No. 17. The vertical distribution and movements of the plankton in lakes Rudolf, Naivasha, Edward, and Bunyoni. J. Linnean Society (Zoology) 40, 33–69.
Zaret, T. (1980) Predation and Freshwater Communities. Yale Univ. Press, 187 p.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jonna, R., Lehman, J.T. (2002). Invasion of Lake Victoria by the Large Bodied Herbivorous Cladoceran Daphnia Magna . In: Odada, E.O., Olago, D.O. (eds) The East African Great Lakes: Limnology, Palaeolimnology and Biodiversity. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48201-0_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48201-0_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6083-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48201-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive