Daphnia

American  

[daf-nee-uh] / ˈdæf ni ə /

noun

1. a genus of tiny, freshwater crustaceans having a transparent body, used in biological research and as food for tropical fish.

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daphnia British  

/ ˈdæfnɪə /

noun

1. any water flea of the genus Daphnia, having a rounded body enclosed in a transparent shell and bearing branched swimming antennae

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Etymology

Origin of Daphnia

1840–50; < New Latin, perhaps after Daphne; -ia

Example Sentences

Daphnia are tiny crustaceans, and zebrafish are a small freshwater species that go from a cell to a swimming fish in about five days.

From Science Daily • May 10, 2024

Scientists expect the populations of those zooplankton, specifically Daphnia and Bosmina, to continue growing in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023

For the estuary ecosystem, the scientists studied Inland Silverside and mysid shrimp, while in the freshwater ecosystem the scientists studied embryonic zebrafish and the crustacean Daphnia magna.

From Salon • Mar. 3, 2022

The data represented periods before, during and after a time when the lake was affected by blooms of cyanobacteria, a microbe with low nutritional value for Daphnia.

From Nature • Jan. 30, 2018

The same experiments may be made with another freshwater crustacean, namely Daphnia, with this difference, however, that it is as a rule necessary to lower the temperature of the water also.

From Darwin and Modern Science by Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)