Morphological and Molecular Identification of Three Ceriodaphnia Species (Cladocera: Daphniidae) from Australia

Table 2

Comparisons of selected morphological characters of eight Ceriodaphnia spp.; —: no information available.

Character	C. dubia ()	C. spinata ()	C. sp.1  ()	C. quadrangula (Müller, 1785 [30])	C. laticaudata Müller, 1867 [31]	C. rotunda; Sars, 1862 [32, 33]	C. pulchella; Sars, 1862 [32, 33]	C. dubia; Richard, 1894
Size of adult female in mm	1–1.4	0.75–0.95	0.9–1.2	0.5–0.9	0.7–1	0.8–1	0.5–0.86	0.7–1
Posterior; margin of carapace	Row of fine spinules punctuated partially or entirely with 10 to 12 spines	Approx. 1/3rd of the posterior end shows spines projecting from the edge of the carapace	Long flexible setules followed by a row of fine thin spines interrupted in between with fine spiniform setules rising parallel from the edge	acute and spine shaped	Long flexible setules followed by a row of fine thin spines interrupted in between with fine spiniform setules rising parallel from the edge	Is convex shaped with clear and coarse reticulation and serrated spines at the edge of the carapace. It ends on posterior side at a posterodorsal angle with blunt spine	Row of thin hairs continues till the rear edge, where it reaches its highest point near the junction of the posterodorsal angle. Posterodorsal angle shows presence of spine which is laid almost parallel to its edge
Reticulation and sculpture of carapace	Evenly sized polygonal in shape with heavy edges and dotted surfaces	Distinctly reticulated with relatively large raised nearly hexagonal meshes	Distinctly reticulated with relatively large flattened polygonal meshes	Coarser reticulation on the surface with nearly hexagonal structure	Is irregular in shape	Thick regular hexagonal reticulation	Strong polygonal reticulation	Cross-linking regular polygonal structure
Postabdomen	Moderately long and wide that tapers gradually in width towards the terminal claw	Narrow and half the length compared to the maximum body width	Broad and almost half in length compared to the maximum body width	Narrow and of medium size with rounded end	Broad with the securiform (ax) shape	Broad with two small obtuse and horn shaped angles or abdominal appendages at the posterior end	Postabdominal shape towards the end has been mentioned as wide (Lilljeborg 1900b) [34], narrow, and elongated (Hellich 1877; Herrick 1884), approximately straight or slightly concave (Paggi 1986)	Moderately long and wide that tapers gradually in width towards the terminal claw
Anal denticles	7–10	8–10	9-10	8–10	9–11	7–9	7–14	8–10
Total number of setulated setae; on III; (E = endopodite; Ex = exopodite)	6; E1 = 2; Ex1 = 4	4-5; E1 = 1; Ex1 = 3/4	4; E1 = 0; Ex1 = 4	—	—	—	—	—
Number of setae on exopodite V	4	3	4	—	4	—	4	—
Middle pecten	21 long and stouter teeth	Presence of fine setules	With heavier and slightly longer spinules, compared to proximal pecten	—	Presence of larger spinules	—	Presence of larger spinules	Form 1 toothed pecten variety with a central pecten on the claw showing 18 to 24 finely setulated pectens