Morphological changes in Daphnia galeata induced by a crustacean terpenoid hormone and its analog

Terpenoid hormones in insects (i.e., juvenile hormones) have various effects on physiology, morphology, and behavior, producing a wide range of phenotypic variation. Recent studies have shown that sex determination in cladoceran crustaceans is under the strong control of a major terpenoid hormone of crustaceans, methyl farnesoatote (MF). It can be easily conceived that MF is also a major determinant of other traits in cladocerans. In the present study, morphological changes known as antipredatory responses in a cladoceran Daphnia galeata in response to exposure to MF and a juvenile hormone-mimicking pesticide, fenoxycarb, were investigated. Morphological change was studied using neonates less than 24 h old, exposed either to MF at the concentrations from 1.9 to 30 µg/L, or fenoxycarb at the concentrations from 13 to 200 ng/L, for 6 d. Animals developed a longer helmet at 1.9 µg/L of MF and 25 ng/L of fenoxycarb, and showed a concentration-dependent elongation. However, the tail spine was reduced in size in a concentration-dependent manner. Results of the present study not only give new insight into the mechanisms of inducible defenses in cladocerans, but also provide invaluable information to understand ecological and evolutionary consequences of endocrine disruption through the shift in biological interaction between predator and prey.