Daphnia Anatomy

Daphnia can be found in freshwater lakes ponds and rivers all over the world. The morphology and anatomy of daphnids are discussed in detail in the anatomy section below.

Daphnia Magna

Daphnia mature in approximately a week and can have thousands of offspring.

Daphnia anatomy. Daphnia a genus of small planktonic crustaceans are 025 millimetres 001020 in in length. Daphnia are members of the order cladocera and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because their saltatory swimming style resembles the movements of fleas. Daphnia anatomy general description daphnia are kidney shaped organisms that contain a single compound eye one double branched antenna and leaf like limbs inside of the carapace the exoskeleton of the daphnia that produce a current to water that carries food and oxygen to different body parts of daphnia.

Daphnia are planktonic crustaceans that belong to the phyllopoda sometimes called branchiopoda which are characterized by flattened leaf like legs used to produce a water current for the filtering apparatus. Click on the options to the left to change the visible labels on this daphnia. The most prominent external features of daphnia are a single large compound eye and two pairs of slightly branched antennae.

The body of daphnia is laterally compressed a condition that is exaggerated by the pressure of the coverslip. General description daphnia is one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because of their jerky swimming movements. The outer carapace of a daphnia is transparent so all the internal organs even the beating heart can be seen.

The body is divided into an anterior head a middle thorax and a posterior abdomen fig 1 19 15a. Daphnia are extremely small and range in size from 05mm to 1cm. The jerky movement general shape and to a lesser extent colour of daphnia are the best way to distinguish them without magnification.

Daphnia Instant Culture Kit