Morphological responses by Bosmina longirostris and Eubosmina tubicen to changes in copepod predator populations during a whole-lake acidification experiment

Changes in zooplankton populations during the experimental acidilicationof Little Rock Lake provided an opportunity to examine specificmechanisms underlying the morphological responses of bosminidsto changing predation pressure. Two large copepods, Epischuralacustris and Mesocyclops edax, disappeared from the lake'sacidified basin in 1986 and 1989, respectively, while a smallercopepod predator, Tropocyclops extensus, increased during laterstages of acidification. The two bosminid species showed distinctlydifferent responses coinciding with the changes in copepod predation.Bosmina longirostris exhibited a significant decrease in mucrolength with the decline of M.edax and E.lacustris. Its meanbody and antennule length, however, did not change. We suggestthat the decoupling of B.longirostris mucro length and antennulelength may have been related to the persistence of the smallercopepod predator, T.extensus. Eubosmina tubicen showed no apparentresponse to declines in M.edax and E.lacustris abundance ineither mean mucro, antennule or body length. Allometric analysesindicated, however, that mucro length was related to size-dependentcopepod predation for both B.longirostris and E.tubicen.