• Prominent cervical sinus
• Usually with high pointed helmets, but non-helmeted individuals may also occur
• Sharp fornices extend laterally in both helmeted and non-helmeted individuals
• Ephippium not extending up to the head shield; ephippia more elongate than for most Daphnia species
• Ventral margin of the carapace has long, widely-spaced spines
• Characteristics modified from Petrusek et al. (2005)

    Daphnia lumholtzi is native to Africa, Australia and Asia. It is a recent invasive species in North America; D. lumholtzi was first detected in a Texas reservoir in 1990. It is now found in the Great Lakes region as well as the Southwest USA and its distribution is expanding.

    D. lumholtzi inhabit large lakes as well as small temporary pools.

    Sharp helmets and tailspines are defenses induced by fish kairomones

PETRUSEK, A., BASTIANSEN, F., SCHWENK, K. (2005): European Daphnia Species (EDS) - Taxonomic and genetic keys. [Build 2006-01-12 beta]. CD-ROM, distributed by the authors.

• daphnialumholtzi1.mov - Daphnia lumholtzi filter feeding and swimming. (4.38 MB)
• daphnialumholtzi2.mov - Daphnia lumholtzi swimming. (1.83 MB)