Reproductive mode in populations of Daphnia pulex and Daphnia obtusa from the East Midlands of Britain

SUMMARY 1. Two populations of Daphnia pulex , one from a permanent pond and one from a temporary pond, and two temporary pond populations of Daphnia obtusa in the East Midlands of Britain were examined by enzyme electrophoresis. The three temporary pond populations showed good fits to Hardy-Weinberg expectations, suggestive of cyclic parthenogenesis, while the permanent pond population showed deviations bordering on statistical significance.
2. Laboratory characterization of the ephippiai offspring of heterozy-gous mothers from each population showed normal Mendelian segregation and males were produced. This indicates that in both species ephippiai egg production was a sexual process, and confirms that these populations reproduce by cyclic, rather than obligate, parthenogenesis.