Morphological variation of Keratella cochlearis (Gosse) in a backwater of the River Thames

Abstract

The morphological variation of Keratella cochlearis in a Thames backwater has been studied over 4 years. There was a general inverse relationship between lorica length and temperature, but the annual cycle of change depended upon the rate of change of the temperature, and there was considerable variation between years. There was a similar inverse relationship between posterior spine length and temperature, and a shift in both relationships depending on whether the temperature was increasing or decreasing. As the water temperature increased from winter to summer the lorica and posterior spine were longer than at the same temperature as the water cooled from summer to winter. This shift can be modified by anomalous temperatures, such as a late spring or a cool summer. The form lacking a posterior spine usually, but not consistently, had a longer lorica than the typical spined forms. It usually disappeared from the samples at the end of November and did not reappear until March, although with a mild autumn and winter it persisted until January before disappearing. Forms without posterior spines did not all have the same origins.