Bythotrephes longimanus - Spiny Water Flea/Spiny Tailed Water Flea

Information Last Reviewed Spring 2007

The spiny water flea is a tiny, predacious crustacean that competes with young perch and other small fish for prey, such as Daphnia spp. Significant adverse impacts have yet to be documented; however, the spiny water flea can be consumed only by larger predators due to the flea’s sharp spine. With this in mind, spiny water flea populations may remain high, leading to a decline in plankton populations, and thus altering food webs.

Taxonomy

General Biology

Identification

Life Cycle

Habitat Characteristics

Taxonomy

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: Crustacea

Class: Branchiopoda

Order: Onychopoda

Family: Cercopagida

This species was previously known as Bythotrephes cederstroemi.

$image\blongimanus_1.jpg$

Hooks on caudal appendage distinguishes the spiny waterflea from similar species

(Image from: http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3313_3677_8314-83004--,00.html)

General Biology

Behavior

Can reach densities as high as 125 individuals/meter $image\3.jpg$ in areas free of predators $image\34.jpg$
Large tail prevents predation from smaller fish $image\2.jpg$

Diet

Juveniles

Similar to adults

Adults

Feed primarily on other zooplankton $image\3.jpg$ $image\11.jpg$ $image\32.jpg$
Opportunistic feeders that change their diet when prey availability decreases $image\15.jpg$
Small crustaceans, especially species of Daphnia, serve as the main prey item in their native range $image\26.jpg$

Identification

Juvenile Morphology

Similar to adults
Juveniles generally have fewer than 3-4 spines on their tail $image\26.jpg$ $image\35.jpg$

Adult Morphology

Reach lengths of about 15 mm $image\2.jpg$
Adult females are generally larger than males $image\28.jpg$
Well-developed abdomen with a very long tail $image\2.jpg$ $image\22.jpg$ $image\26.jpg$
Tail has three to four spines without a distinctive terminal loop $image\2.jpg$ $image\22.jpg$ $image\35.jpg$
Fully developed parthenogenic individuals have three barbs on their tails $image\35.jpg$
Fully developed sexually reproduced individuals have four barbs on their tails $image\35.jpg$
Adult females have a brood pouch on their back $image\28.jpg$ $image\30.jpg$
Looks similar to a ball of cotton when clumped on fishing line

$image\blongimanus_2.jpg$

Spiny waterflea collected on fishing line to form "cotton ball" appearance

(Image courtesy of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)

Distinguishing Characteristics

Most closely resembles Cercopagis pengoi the Fishhook Waterflea
Very long tail does not have a terminal loop $image\2.jpg$ $image\22.jpg$ $image\30.jpg$

Life Cycle

Maturity

Maturity is quickly reached
At higher summer temperatures, individuals can reach sexual maturity in about 14 days $image\35.jpg$

Reproduction

Populations are both sexual and parthenogenetic (females can reproduce without males) $image\13.jpg$ $image\14.jpg$
Sexual reproduction increases their chances of surviving in variable and extreme weather conditions $image\14.jpg$
Females with a full clutch weigh twice as much and have much higher predation rates. Predation on brooding females enhances dispersal of eggs $image\17.jpg$
Females carry their young in a brood pouch located on their back

Eggs

Eggs can remain dormant for long periods of time and hatch when environmental conditions become more favorable $image\17.jpg$
Overwintering dormant eggs usually hatch when water temperatures reach 4°C $image\17.jpg$
Dormant eggs can usually survive passage through the digestive tract of fish predators, further enhancing their ability to disperse $image\17.jpg$

Juveniles

Grow quickly, often reaching maturity in as little as 14 days $image\35.jpg$
Parthenogenic individuals develop through a red-eye into a black-eye stage before leaving the brood sac $image\35.jpg$
Individuals undergo a series of quick molts, increasing in size and adding barbs to their long tail $image\35.jpg$

Habitat Characteristics

Preferred Environment

Large oligotrophic lakes $image\24.jpg$
Generally found in areas with very low salinity $image\24.jpg$
Typically inhabit pelagic regions of lakes $image\29.jpg$

Temperature

Can tolerate a wide range of temperatures but generally found at temperatures between 5 and 30 deg C $image\12.jpg$

Salinity

Generally found in areas with low salinity $image\24.jpg$
Can tolerate a wide range of salinity $image\4.jpg$ $image\24.jpg$

Water Quality

Unknown

Distribution

Native Range

Native to northern Europe and Asia $image\16.jpg$ $image\28.jpg$
Originally found from Great Britain to the Bering Sea $image\13.jpg$ $image\19.jpg$
Successfully expanded its range throughout European lakes $image\13.jpg$ $image\19.jpg$

North American Distribution

Established:

First populations were established in Lake Ontario in 1982 $image\18.jpg$
Populations became established in all five Great Lakes by 1987 $image\6.jpg$ $image\8.jpg$ $image\18.jpg$ $image\20.jpg$ $image\21.jpg$
Currently found in lakes in the northern United States and in southern Canada $image\8.jpg$ $image\1.jpg$ $image\33.jpg$
Established populations documented in the following states: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin

Probable Means of Introduction

Likely transported from Europe via ship ballast water $image\31.jpg$
Continued spread is likely due to bait-bucket transportation and transportation aided by fishing lines, anchor lines, and boat props and hulls

Impacts

Negative

Compete with many larval fish for food $image\3.jpg$ $image\11.jpg$ $image\32.jpg$
Outcompete native zooplankton populations leading to drastic decline in native populations $image\7.jpg$ $image\10.jpg$ $image\15.jpg$ $image\22.jpg$ $image\29.jpg$ $image\34.jpg$
In high abundances they can catch on fishing line, fish nets, and trawls forming a paste that may alter the success of these items $image\9.jpg$ $image\23.jpg$

Positive

Serves as a food source for many fish species including yellow perch, walleye, white bass, lake herring, and deepwater sculpin $image\5.jpg$ $image\6.jpg$ $image\25.jpg$

Management

Control Measures

Increased ballast water control and regulations may reduce risk of future invasions
Increased public awareness about possible harmful effects of transporting bait water from one location to another
Wash boats with hot water to help prevent spread from one body of water to the next

Literature

Barbiero, R.P., R.E. Little, and M.L. Tuchman. 2001. Results from the US EPA's biological open water surveillance program of the Laurentian Great Lakes: III. Crustacean zooplankton. Journal of Great Lakes Research 27: 167-184.

Barnhisel, D.R. and H.A. Harvey. 1995. Size-specific fish avoidance of the spined crustacean Bythotrephes: Field support for laboratory predictions. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 52:768-775.

Berg, D. J., and D.W. Garton. 1988. Seasonal abundance of the exotic predatory cladoceran, Bythotrephes cederstroemi, in western Lake Erie. Journal of Great Lakes Research 14(4): 479-488.

Bielecka, L., M.I. Zmijewska, and A. Szymborska. 2000. A new predatory cladoceran Cercopagis (Cercopagis) pengoi (Ostroumov 1891) in the Gulf of Gdañsk. Oceanologia 42:371-374.

Branstrator, D.K. and J.T. Lehman. 1996. Evidence for predation by young-of-the-year alewife and bloater chub on Bythotrephes cederstroemi in Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 22:917-924.

Bur, M.T., D.M. Klarer and K.A. Krieger. 1986. First records of a European cladoceran, Bythotrephes cederstroemi, in Lakes Erie and Huron. Journal of Great Lakes Research 12:144-146.

Burkhardt, S. and J.T. Lehman. 1994. Prey consumption and predatory effects of an invertebrate predator (Bythotrephes: Cladocera, Cercopagidae) based on phosphorous budgets. Limnology and Oceanography 39:1007-1019.

Cullis, K.I. and G.E. Johnson. 1988. First evidence of the cladoceran Bythotrephes cederstroemi Schödler in Lake Superior. Journal of Great Lakes Research 14:524-525.

Duggan, I.C., C.D.A. van Overdijk; S.A. Bailey, P.T. Jenkins, H. Limen, and H.J. MacIsaac. 2005. Invertebrates associated with residual ballast water and sediments of cargo-carrying ships entering the Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 62:2463-2474.

Dumitru, C., W.G. Sprules and N.D. Yan. 2001. Impact of Bythotrephes longimanus on zooplankton assemblages of Harp Lake, Canada: An assessment based on predator consumption and prey production. Freshwater Biology 46:241-251.

Evans, M.S. 1988. Bythotrephes cederstroemi: Its new appearance in Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 14(2):234-240.

Garton, D.W., D.J. Berg and R.J. Fletcher. 1990. Thermal tolerances of the predator cladocerans Bythotrephes cederstroemi and Leptodora kindti: Relationship to seasonal abundance in western Lake Erie. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 47:731-738.

Grigorovich, I.A., O.V. Pashkova, Y.F. Gromova and C.D.A. Van Overdijk. 1998. Bythotrephes longimanus in the commonwealth of Independent States. Hydrobiologia 379:183-198.

Hebert, P.D.N. 1987. Genotypic characteristics of the Cladocera. Hydrobiologia 145:183-193.

Hoffman, J.C., M.E. Smith and J.T. Lehman. 2001. Perch or plankton: Top-down control of Daphnia by yellow perch (Perca flavescens) or Bythotrephes cederstroemi in an inland lake? Freshwater Biology 46:759-775.

Hutchinson, G.E. 1967. A treatise in Limnology. Chapman and Hall, New York. 1115 pp.

Jarnagin, S.T., B.K. Swan and W.C. Kerfoot. 2000. Fish as vectors in the dispersal of Bythotrephes cederstroemi: Diapausing eggs survive passage through the gut. Freshwater Biology 43:579-589.

Johannsson, O.E., E.L. Mills and R. O’Gorman. 1991. Changes in the nearshore and offshore zooplankton communities in Lake Ontario: 1981-1988. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48:1546-1557.

Ketelaars, H.A.M. and L. Gille. 1994. Range extension of the predatory cladoceran Bythotrephes cederstroemi LEYDIG 1860 (Crustacea, Onychopoda) in Western Europe. Netherlands Journal of Aquatic Ecology 28:175-180.

Lange, C. and R. Cap. 1986. Bythotrephes cederstroemi (Schodler) (Cercopagidae: Cladocera): A new record for Lake Ontario. Journal of Great Lakes Research 12:142-143.

Lehman, J.T. 1987. Palearctic predator invades North American Great Lakes. Oecologia 74:478-480.

Lehman, J.T. 1991. Causes and consequences of Cladoceran dynamics in Lake Michigan: Implication of species invasion by Bythotrephes. Journal of Great Lakes Research 17:437-445.

Leppäkoski, E. and S. Olenin. 2000. Non-native species and rates of spread: Lessons from the brackish Baltic Sea. Biological Invasions 2:151-163.

MacIsaac, H.J., H.A.M. Ketelaars, I.A. Grigorovich, C.W. Ramcharan and N.D. Yan. 2000. Modeling Bythotrephes longimanus invasions in the Great Lakes basin based on its European distribution. Archiv Fuer Hydrobiologie 149:1-23.

Makarewitz, J.C., and H.D. Jones. 1990. Occurrence of Bythotrephes cederstroemi in Lake Ontario offshore waters. Journal of Great Lakes Research 16: 143-147.

Mordukhai-Boltovskoi, F.D. 1968. Order Cladocera. In Atlas of invertebrates of the Caspian Sea. Eds. Y.A. Birshtein, L.G. Vinogradov, N.N. Kondakov, M.S. Astakhova, and N.N. Romanova. Pishchevaya Promyshlennost Press. Moscow, Russia pp.120-160.

Nilsson, N.A. and B. Pejler. 1973. On the relation between fish fauna and zooplankton composition in north Swedish Lakes. Reports of the Institute of Freshwater Research Drottningholm. 53:51-77.

Rivier, I.K. 1998. The predatory Cladocera (Onychopoda:Podonidae, Polyphemidae, Cercopagidae) and Leptodorida of the world. Backhuys Publishing, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Schulz, K.L. and P.M. Yurista. 1999. Implication of an invertebrate predator’s (Bythotrephes cederstroemi) atypical effects on a pelagic zooplankton community. Hydrobiologia 380:179-193.

Simm, M. and H. Ojaveer. 2006. Taxonomic status and reproduction dynamics of the non-indigenous Cercopagis in the Gulf of Riga (Baltic Sea). Hydrobiologia 554:147-154.

Sprules, W.G., H.P. Riessen and E.H. Jin. 1990. Dynamics of the Bythotrephes invasion of the St. Lawrence Great Lakes. Journal of Great Lakes Research 16:346-351.

Vanderploeg, H.A., J.R. Liebig, and M. Omair. 1993. Bythotrephes predation on Great Lakes zooplankton Measured by an in situ method: Implications for zooplankton community structure. Arch. Hydrobiol. 127: 1-8.

Vanderploeg, H.A., T.F. Nalepa, D.J. Jude, E.L. Mills, K.T. Holeck, J.R. Liebig, I.A. Grigorovich and H. Ojaveer. 2002. Dispersal and emerging ecological impacts of Ponto-Caspian species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 59:1209-1228.

Yan, N.D. and T.W. Pawson. 1997. Changes in the crustacean zooplankton community of Harp Lake, Canada, following invasion by Bythrotrephes cederstoemi. Freshwater Biology 37:409-425.

Yurista, P.M. 1992. Embryonic and postembryonic development in Bythotrephes cederstroemii. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 49:1118-1125.

Additional Literature

Berg, D. J., and D. W. Garton. 1994. Genetic differentiation in North American and European populations of the cladoceran Bythotrephes. Limnol. Oceanogr. 39: 1503-1516.

Berg, D.J., D.W. Garton, H.J. MacIsaac, V.E. Panov, and I.V. Telesh. 2002. Changes in genetic structure of North American Bythotrephes populations following invasion from Lake Ladoga, Russia. Freshwater Biology 47: 275-282.

Branstrator, D.K. 1995. Ecological interactions between Bythotrephes cederstroemi and Leptodora kindtii and the implications for species replacement in Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 21: 670-679.

Brown, M.E., and D.K. Branstrator. 2004. A 2001 survey of crustacean zooplankton in the western arm of Lake Superior. Journal of Great Lakes Research 30: 1-8.

Bur M.T. and D.M. Klarer. 1991. Prey selection for the exotic cladoceran Bythotrephes cederstroemi by selected Lake Erie fishes. Journal of Great Lakes Research 17: 85-93.

Carlton, J.T. and J.B. Geller. 1993. Ecological roulette: The global transport of nonindigenous marine organisms. Science 261: 73-82.

Case, T.J. 1991. Invasion resistance, species build-up and community collapse in metapopulation models with interspecies competition. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 42: 239-266.

Coulas, R.A., H.J. MacIssac and W. Dunlop. 1998. Selective predation on an introduced zooplankter (Bythotrephes cederstroemi) by lake herring (Coregonus artedii) in Harp Lake, Ontario. Freshwater Biology 40: 343-355.

Lehman, J.T. and D.K. Branstrator 1995. A model for growth, development, and diet selection by the invertebrate predator Bythotrephes cederstroemi. Journal of Great Lakes Research 21: 610-619.

Mills, E.L., J.H.Leach, J.T. Carlton and C.L. Secor. 1993. Exotic species in the Great Lakes: A history of biotic crisis and anthropogenic introductions. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 19: 1-57.

Mills ,E.L., R. O'Gorman, J. DeGisi, R.F. Heberger and R.A. House. 1992. Food of the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Lake Ontario before and after the establishment of Bythotrephes cederstroemi. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 49: 2009-2019.

Nilsson, N.A. 1961. The effect of water-level fluctuations on the feeding habits of trout and char in Lakes Blasjon and Jormsjon, North Sweden. Reports of the Institute of Freshwater Research Drottningholm. 42:238-261.

Straile, D., and A. Halbich. 2000. Life history and multiple antipredator defenses of an invertebrate pelagic predator, Bythotrephes longimanus. Ecology 81: 150-163.

Web Sites

http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?fr=1&si=151&sts

http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/flora-fauna/invasive/spinyflea.html

http://www.iisgcp.org/exoticsp/spiny_water_flea.htm

http://www.protectyourwaters.net/hitchhikers/crustaceans_spiny_water_flea.php