How long do spiny water fleas live?
Spiny water fleas can rapidly reproduce in summer because adult females can produce young without mating, when water temperatures are just right, at a rate of 10 young every two weeks. They live for several days up to two weeks.
What is the spiny water flea scientific name?
Bythotrephes longimanus
Bythotrephes longimanus/Scientific names
Are spiny water fleas harmful to humans?
While it is no danger to humans or domestic animals, spiny water fleas can have a huge impact on aquatic life in lakes and ponds due to their rapid reproduction rates. There are no known current management options for infestations other than spread prevention.
How did the spiny water flea get to Canada?
Both species were introduced to the Great Lakes in ballast water from ocean-going ships. Spiny and fishhook waterfleas collect on fishing lines and nets. Both waterfleas are species of zooplankton – small animals that rely on water currents and wind to move long distances.
How big are spiny water fleas?
Spiny waterfleas are microscopic animals, also known as zooplankton, that live in open water. Adults range from one-quarter to five-eighths inches long, and are opaque in color. They have a single long tail with one to four spines and have one large, distinctive black eyespot.
How are spiny water fleas being controlled?
To date, the only effective strategy for controlling spiny water flea is to prevent its introduction into new bodies of water. CLEAN: Whenever leaving a waterway, inspect watercraft and gear and remove aquatic plants and animals, including mud and algae and dispose of away from the shoreline.
What eats spiny water fleas?
Small fish can’t eat the spiny water flea because of its long, barbed tail spine, but larger species of fish such as an adult paddlefish can do so. In some of the Great Lakes, the invaders are the dominant predators.
What eats spiny water flea?
How does spiny water flea spread?
What you should do. People spread spiny waterfleas primarily through the movement of water-related equipment. The species collects in gelatinous blobs on fishing lines and downrigger cables. They can survive in water contained in bait buckets, live wells, bilge areas, ballast tanks and other water-containing devices.
How do spiny water fleas reproduce?
These crustaceans reproduce rapidly. During the summer months, the spiny water flea will reproduce through parthenogenesis. This asexual mode of reproduction allows female spiny water fleas to produce up to ten eggs that develop into genetic replicas of the mother.
Where do water fleas live?
Most forms are found in freshwater habitats, but a few occur in marine environments. The best known genus is Daphnia, ubiquitous in ponds and streams in Europe and North America. The water flea is microscopic in size, typically measuring only about 0.2 to 3.0 millimetres (0.01 to 0.12 inch) long.
What problems does the spiny water flea cause?
An Invader in the Bay The spiny water flea’s main diet consists of native zooplankton. Not only does this decrease the populations of native zooplankton, but it also decreases food sources for native species that eat zooplankton, such as small fish.
What does the spiny water flea do?
The spiny waterflea is a predatory zooplankton that eats other zooplankton. They migrate into deeper waters during the day to hide from predators, and return to shallower water at night to find food. During the spring and summer, they reproduce by cloning.
What does the spiny water flea look like?
Spiny water fleas look like bristly masses of jelly with black eye spots when tangled on fishing lines, reels, and other equipment. They can clog the first eyelet of rods, damage a reel’s drag system, and prevent fish from being landed.
Does the spiny water flee have predators?
Spiny and fishhook water fleas are predators – they eat smaller zooplankton (planktonic animals), including Daphnia. This puts them in direct competition with juvenile fish for food. Young fish have trouble eating these water fleas due to their long, spiny tails.
What does the spiny water flea eat?
The spiny water flea preys on smaller planktonic organisms. Its diet consists mostly of zooplankton, including Daphnia and smaller crustaceans. Bythotrephes can consume 10–20 prey organisms a day.