Water flea is a generic term for a number of small aquatic crustacea characterised by their jumping or jerky mode of swimming. Most are between 0.1 mm and 3 mm in length. Most commonly, they will be species of Daphnia but a number of other genera are also commonly included, including Cyclops, and Diaptomus. Water fleas are commonly sold as aquarium food since they are easy to culture and reproduce rapidly. Look up Generic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Animal environments are classified as either aquatic (water), terrestrial (land), or amphibious (water and land). ... Classes Remipedia Cephalocarida Branchiopoda Ostracoda Maxillopoda Malacostraca The crustaceans (Crustacea) are a large group of arthropods (55,000 species), usually treated as a subphylum. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Species Subgenus Daphnia Subgenus Hyalodaphnia Subgenus Ctenodaphnia Daphnia are small, mostly planktonic, crustaceans, between 0. ... Cyclops is a genus of copepods with a singe eye spot. ... Diaptomus is a genus of copepods with a single eye spot. ... For other uses, see Aquarium (disambiguation). ...

The "spiny water flea", Bythotrephes cederstroemi, is causing serious concerns in the lakes of Canada. The problem is that it feeds on zooplankton and can actually eliminate zooplankton species. As zooplankton is the backbone of aquatic food chains, this tiny crustacean presents a serious risk to the ecosystem. The eggs survive even after being dried out or eaten by fish.^[1] Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Photomontage of plankton organisms Plankton is the aggregate community of weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. ...

References

1. ^ Robert Roy Britt (2005). Invasive Creatures Attack Like Internet Viruses. LiveScience.com.