VULNERABILITY OF MELANIC DAPHNIA TO BROWN TROUT PREDATION

The co-existence of melanic Daphnia cf. longispina and facultatively p lanktivorous brown trout is reported from a clear-water, alpine lake. This co-occurrence is uncommon, presumably due to the vulnerability of pigmented Daphnia to fish predation. Lake Bjornesfjorden (Norway) pro vided an opportunity to test this assumption. About 20% of the fish ca ught in gill nets had fed on Daphnia. The trout exerted a marked selec tion for large sized Daphnia prey, and a very strong selection for pig mented individuals relative to transparent ones. The persistence of a pigmented Daphnia population probably relies on limited recruitment an d a low stock of the predator, and the availability of more favourable benthic prey organisms.