# data[].attributes.body
The Spiny Waterflea, also known as the Bythotrephes Longimanus , is a planktonic crustacean, known as zooplankton, unlike other crustaceans. It was first discovered in 1982, in Lake Ontario, North America. This Organism got its name from its spiny tail.

# data[].attributes.body
The Bythotrephes Longimanus belongs to the animalia kingdom. Below is the classification.

Kingdom: Animal

Phylum: Arthropod

Class: Branchiopods

Order: Onychopoda

Family: Cercopagididae

Genus: Bythotrephes

Species: Bythotrephes Longimanus

# data[].attributes.body
The Spiny Waterflea is a very small animal

that lives in open waters. An adult Spiny Waterflea can

reach the length of 1.5 cm. and most are opaque

in color. They have a long slim tail, and this is where

the spines are located , When they are young, Bythotrephes Longimanus's have 1-2 spines on Heir fa, but when

they reach adulthood, they may have up to 4 spines,

as well as a black eyespot. Another characteristic of this

organism is the 4 pairs of legs, with the first pair

being longer than the others, to make catching prey

easier, and a pair of swimming antennae , to make swimming

faster. The Bythotrephes Longimanus is a multicellular

organism, made up of eukaryotic cells, which means

that its DNA is located in the nucleus of each

cell.

# data[].attributes.body
The Bythotrephes Longimanus is a predatory zooplankton that eats other zooplanktons. Zooplanktons are floating, or rarely swimming animals thot rely on water currents and waves to move them around. During the day, Spiny

Waterfleas go to deeper waters to hide from predators,

and at night, they go to shallow waters to search for

prey. They can consume 10-20 prey organisms daily.

# data[].attributes.body
The Spiny Waterflea is native to North Europe and

Asia. This organism is found in open waters, including the

upper water column of deep temperate lakes. The species

is known to be invasive, and seen in big groups. They

can be found on fishing lines too.

# data[].attributes.body
The life span of a Bythotrephes Longimanus lasts

between a few lays and 2 weeks. When adults, Spiny Waterfleas reproduce both sexually and asexually. During the summer, they reproduce using parthenogenesis which is a type of asexual reproduction, and produce up to 10 (eggs) identical copies of the mother. On the other hand, when the water conditions are cool, they reproduce sexually, by producing tougher eggs that are resistant to freezing, drying, and breaking before it is time. The females carry the eggs on their back. When Spiny Waterfleas reproduce asexually, only one parent is required, while for sexual reproduction, two parents are required.

# data[].attributes.body
The Spiny Waterfleas is not endangered, but quite the opposite. It is an invasive species, which means that there is many more of them than there needs to be, and that they spread around and reproduce very quickly.

# data[].attributes.body
1. The Spiny Waterflea has only 1 eye.

2. The Spiny Waterflea reproduces both sexually

and asexually.

# data[].attributes.body
1. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticanimals/spinywaterflea/index.html

2. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=162

3. https://dnr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dnr/education/cdindex/spinywaterflea.pdf

4. https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/invasive-species/meet-the-species/fish-and-invertebrates/spiny-waterflea/

5. https://stopaquatichitchhikers.org/hitchhikers/crustaceans-spiny-water-flea/

6. https://australian.museum/learn/animals/plankton/zooplankton/

7. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/cabicompendium.120606

8. https://maisrc.umn.edu/news/swf-greatlakes