Phenotypic variation and adaptive reaction to the presence of predator in two Daphnia species (Daphniiformes, Daphnia) in Lake Baikal

The effect of invertebrate predation pressure by the cladoceran Leptodora kindti on the population structure of Daphnia galeata and D. hyalina has been estimated by analyzing the occurrence frequency of the normal and spined morphotypes in Lake Baikal. It is shown that the growth of L. kindti population density leads to an increase in the proportion of the spined morphotype, while that of that of the normal morphotype decreases.