Talk:Daphnia

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This article mentions the name "Daphnia", without explaining - is "Daphnia" a synonym of "Water flea", or just one type of water flea? If the former, let's create a redirection from "Daphnia" to "Water flea". If the latter, why mention the daphnia specifically, and why not define it when first used in this article? Nyh 13:03, 29 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Daphnia is the name of the genus. Some species of Daphnia sufficiently well-known might be given the less "alien" name. Another example is Felis Leo being called a lion. Such names can be expected to be inaccurate from a taxonomical perspective. An antlion bears no significant relation to either animal, members of the genus Felis are often referred to as cats, but it's unusual to speak of a tiger as a cat. Nor is a wolf, Canis Lupus, frequently called a dog.

Still, I believe it would be perfectly alright to refer to any member of Daphnia as a "water flea".

I agree. You can call any member of the Daphnia genus a "water flea" but not all "water fleas" are Daphnias. So Daphnia is not a synonym for "Water Flea" and neither is "Water flea" a synonym for Daphnia.
Velela 20:06, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

After >10yr in the Daphnia research community, I've concluded there is no universally accepted boundary to the term "water flea." All would apply "water flea" to any species of the genus Daphnia (none of which individually have common names), and the vast majority wouldn't think twice about including the other five genera of Daphniidae (though most wouldn't use the term for anything other than Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia & Simocephalus). Including the sister families (Bosminidae & Moinidae) is widespread, but beyond that the term is inconsistently used, though I think few would take issue with equating "water flea" with "Cladocera." I suspect this is because the saltatory movements are not the sole (or main?) reason for the nickname. When originally described, the rostrum was likened to the sucking mouth parts of fleas, and it was thought that they fed on blood -- in hypoxic waters, most Daphnia produce hemoglobin and easily look engorged with blood. Outside of the Daphnia genus, few Cladocera have all three characteristics: saltation, a pointy rostrum, and hemoglobin production. Don't know about use of the term among aquarists. Brunsweiler 04:48, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Fortunately or unfortunately, it is not the research community that asign common names to animals or groups of animals. I personally would be happy to reserve the name Water flea to the Cladocera but many suppliers of live fish-food will continue to use a much wider definition encompassing almost any motile small freshwater arthropod. As with all common names, we probably have to accept what the common usage is, no matter how non-discriminating it may seem. I therefore agree that to describe all Daphniidæ as being Water fleas is fine, but to say that all Water fleas are Daphniidæ would be incorrect.Velela 21:25, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] wrong link

It seems to me "saltatory" should not be linked to "Saltation". Dan Gluck 21:20, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

No - it was the Saltation disambig page that was incomplete - now corrected. although I do agree that this is not the best way of linking this Mrs Trellis 08:28, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discover Magazine

This article on epigenetics mentions this:

To the surprise of scientists, many environmentally induced changes turn out to be heritable. When exposed to predators, Daphnia water fleas grow defensive spines. The effect can last for several generations.

--AOL 21:48, 27 February 2007 (UTC)