OBSERVATION OF THE NON-NATIVE WATER FLEA DAPHNIA LUMHOLTZI IN B. EVERETT JORDAN LAKE, NORTH CAROLINA

摘要

The spiny water flea Daphnia lumholtzi (Sars, 1885) (Order Cladocera, family Daphniidae) is a potentially invasive species native to Eastern Africa, Australia and the subcontinent of India (Benzie 1988). Though its presence was first recorded in an eastern Texas reservoir in 1991 (Sorensen and Sterner 1992), researchers believe D. lumholtzi was accidentally introduced to the United States in a shipment of Nile perch (Lates niloticus; Linnaeus, 1758) in 1983 (Havel and Hebert 1993). Since its introduction, D. lumholtzi has spread to over 170 lakes and reservoirs in the U.S. ranging from Florida to Arizona, and as far north as the Laurentian Great Lakes (Lennon et al. 2001; Havel et al. 2005; Havel and Graham 2006). The ephippia of this species resist desiccation, making rapid migration between water bodies common. While the complete distribution of D. lumholtzi in North Carolina is unknown, its presence has been documented in three reservoirs in western NC: Lake Norman, Cedar Creek Lake, and Greenwood Lake (Havel and Shurin 2004; Fig. 1). This is the first report of D. lumholtzi in B. Everett Jordan Lake, a reservoir in central NC.