When an animal’s pigmentation matches the background across various types of environments, it is potentially an example of cryptic pigmentation, most likely as a response to natural selection by visually oriented predators. One example of cryptic pigmentation is phenotypic plasticity, meaning that an organism can exhibit different phenotypes in different environments. The freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticusliving in stands of reeds tends to have darker pigmentation than individuals living amongst lighter-coloured stoneworts, which has been suggested to result from visual predation. A recent study showed, however, that pigmentation in A. aquaticus is partly plastic, influenced by the nutritional composition in their diet. Here, I performed a laboratory experiment on A. aquaticusto see if the nutritional composition in stoneworts decreases pigmentation. Isopods were provided with a diet of either decaying leaves or stoneworts. The experiment took place over four weeks and pigmentation and growth were analysed at 0, 15 and 31 days. I found that pigmentation in A. aquaticusincreased significantly on both diets. And, there was no difference between both diets in amount of change in pigmentation. The fact that isopods that were feeding on stoneworts did not become lighter to match their background colour preferably depend on a high nutritional composition in the provided food, considering they also more than doubled their weight. In other words, phenotypic plasticity due to different diets between habitats is not the explanation to lighter coloured isopods living amongst stoneworts. However, these results do not exclude that differences can arise over a longer time or differs between different species of stoneworts.

<p>Recent studies show that populations of the freshwater isopod <em>Asellus aquaticus L. can rapidly become locally differentiated when submerged stonewort (<em>Chara spp.) vegetation expands in lakes. In the novel <em>Chara habitat, isopods become lighter pigmented and smaller than in the ancestral reed stands. In this study, I used laboratory experiments to investigate if selective predation by fish could be a possible explanation for these phenotypic changes. Predation from fish is generally considered to be a strong selective force on macroinvertebrate traits. In the first experiment I measured perch (<em>Perca fluviatilis L.) handling time for three size classes of <em>Asellus to see which size of those that would be the most profitable to feed upon. No difference in handling time was detected between prey sizes, hence the largest size would be the most beneficial to feed upon. In a second experiment I let perch feed on a mixture of <em>Asellus phenotypes in aquaria manipulated to mimic the substrates in either the <em>Chara or the reed habitats. Remaining isopods were significantly smaller and lighter pigmented in the fish aquaria than in the controls, showing that the perch preferred to feed on large and dark individuals. In the <em>Chara habitat, selection on isopod pigmentation was according to what could be expected from background matching, but in the reed habitat selection was quite the opposite. These results support the hypothesis that predation from fish is a strong selective force behind the rapid local adaptation seen in <em>Asellus populations in the novel <em>Chara habitat. </em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></p>

Recent studies show that populations of the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus L. can rapidly become locally differentiated when submerged stonewort (Chara spp.) vegetation expands in lakes. In the novel Chara habitat, isopods become lighter pigmented and smaller than in the ancestral reed stands. In this study, I used laboratory experiments to investigate if selective predation by fish could be a possible explanation for these phenotypic changes. Predation from fish is generally considered to be a strong selective force on macroinvertebrate traits. In the first experiment I measured perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) handling time for three size classes of Asellus to see which size of those that would be the most profitable to feed upon. No difference in handling time was detected between prey sizes, hence the largest size would be the most beneficial to feed upon. In a second experiment I let perch feed on a mixture of Asellus phenotypes in aquaria manipulated to mimic the substrates in either the Chara or the reed habitats. Remaining isopods were significantly smaller and lighter pigmented in the fish aquaria than in the controls, showing that the perch preferred to feed on large and dark individuals. In the Chara habitat, selection on isopod pigmentation was according to what could be expected from background matching, but in the reed habitat selection was quite the opposite. These results support the hypothesis that predation from fish is a strong selective force behind the rapid local adaptation seen in Asellus populations in the novel Chara habitat.

Predation is a strong dective force on invertebrate prey. Asellus aquaticus differs in pigmentation reed and submerged vegetation habitats in lakes. Light pigmented individuals al vegetation dominated by Chara sp. while dark pigmented individuals dominate in the reeds. These differences have been hypothesized to result from background matching. Predation pressure from fish is belived to be highest in Chara sp., while invertebrate predators are more common in the reeds. In this study I investigatedif predation from perch and damselfly larvae create different se1ection pressure on pigmentation and size of the Asellus, and if selection is affected by the structure of the habitat. The study vas carried out in aquaria in a loboratory. Regarding predation from perch a tendancy to be selective against dark pigmented individuals in Chara substrate was seen. Mortality increased with body size in Asellus, regardless of pigmentation. In the experiment mortality of Asellus decreased with body length. The results illdicate that it is not as important for Asellus to be cryptic in the reeds since it is not exposed to visual predation on the same level as in the Chara sp. where it is preferable to be small and cryptic. In the reed, large individuals are probably favorued since common predators, such as damselfly larvae, are size-limited in their prey choice.

The aquatic isopod Asellus aquaticus can in some lakes be found as two different ecotypes; one in the habitat dominated by reed and one in stonewort stands. These ecotypes have been shown to differ in size, color and behavior. The reed ecotype is larger, darker and more active compared to the stonewort ecotype. In the two habitats there are different dominating predators: Invertebrate predators in the reed habitat and fish in the stonewort habitat. This project aims to examine how the presence of invertebrate predators and fish affect the two ecotypes of the isopod in regard to behavior and size composition in different substrates. To examine the effect on behavior the activity of isopods collected from Lake Tåkern was measured without and with chemical cues from perch and damselfly larva. The result of the behavior experiment showed no difference between the ecotypes nor the treatments. The lack of differences in the behavior indicates that there could be a variation between lakes. The effect on the size composition was examined by subjecting groups of isopods to predation by perch or damselfly larva in different substrate. The mean length of the group was measured before and after the trials. The size decreased significantly for the reed ecotype in stonewort substrate when subjected to predation by perch. The size for the stonewort ecotype increased significantly in reed substrate with damselfly larva as predator. The effect on size supports that the predators are the cause of the size difference between the ecotypes.

The ecology behind evolutionary diversification is a well studied area of research, whereas the effects of evolution on ecosystems get little attention. In line with ecological theory, evolutionary diversification of a species could influence different ecosystem aspects such as food web composition, energy flow, nutrient cycling etc. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether two diverging ecotypes (reed and chara) of Asellus aquaticus differ regarding their role in two aquatic ecosystem processes: decomposition of terrestrial leaves and grazing of periphyton. Their role in ecosystem process as well as treatment effects on fitness, measured as growth and survival, were investigated in a laboratory experiment with various levels of intra-specific competition and inter-specific interactions with the amphipod Gammarus pulex. The isopods were collected from two Swedish lakes: Lake Tåkern and Lake Fardume. These two lakes represent different history of ecotype divergence. The experimental design consisted of 2-L aquaria, each providing elm leaves (Ulmus glabra), oak leaves (Quercus roburleaves) and periphyton as food sources. Ten treatments with five replicates were applied for each lake and the experiment lasted for four weeks. The study showed that there was no significant difference between chara and reed ecotype in their functional role. However, the rate of ecosystem processes per individual decreased in competitive interactions. In high density, decomposition per dry weight consumer was low and total algae biomass was high at the end of four weeks due to intra-specific competition. Moreover, ecosystem processes were lowest in inter-specific competition between Gammarus pulex and each ecotype. Present study also shows that ecotypes from the different lakes, having different history, had different responses to mortality and growth.

The widespread use of pharmaceutics raises an anthropogenic issue in natural environment. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) used as antidepressants, pass through most wastewater treatment plants and enter natural waters.  Their impact on personality of aquatic animals is poorly investigated, especially in invertebrates. In the current study, the impact of fluoxetine (an SSRI) on animal personality was investigated in the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus. To investigate responses, isopods were exposed for 1 day to fluoxetine of 10 ng L-1. Boldness, exploration, activity and escape behaviour (running and freezing) were tested on male and female isopods of two phenotypes of pigmentation (dark and light). The isopods showed consistency of behaviour responses in assays; one of the prerequisites for the existence of personality traits. Fluoxetine exposure reduced activity level, but had no effect on the other personality traits measured. This study thus provides some support for the idea that an environmentally relevant concentration of fluoxetine affects personality in A. aquaticus.

Fluoxetin är den aktiva substansen i många serotoninreglerande läkemedel som förs in i vattendrag. Substansen har visats påverka beteende av vattenlevande organismer som fiskar, mollusker och kräftdjur genom att öka deras djärvhet. I denna studie undersöktes fluoxetins akuta (på vildfångade individer) och kroniska (på labbuppfödda individer) effekter av koncentrationerna 0, 3 och 30 ng L-1 på Asellus aquaticus (sötvattengråsugga) antipredatorbeteende. Detta gjordes genom tre beteendetest: (1) tid att lämna refug, (2) spontan aktivitet samt (3) flyktbeteende under predationsrisk. Överlag hittades få eller inga effekter på A. aquaticus från fluoxetin. De effekter som dock påverkade individer signifikant visade att exponerade individer flydde en signifikant kortare (30 %) tidsperiod från en simulerad predatorattack. Utöver denna huvudeffekt av fluoxetin hittades även signifikanta skillnader i fluoxetins påverkan på de två grupperna, när individer blev utsatta för den högsta koncentrationen ökade vildfångade individer sin aktivitet (38 % fler stopp och 49 % mer rörelse) medan labbuppfödda individer sänkte sin aktivitet (43 % färre stopp och 37 % mindre rörelse). Individer som inte var exponerade visade signifikanta skillnader i alla beteendetest för de två grupperna. Det är troligt att beteendeskillnader är en följd av olika uppfödningsmiljöer, dock går det inte att utesluta att ändrade genfrekvenser uppkommit. Studien lyser sken på behovet av fler studier av långtidsexponering av läkemedelsrester, de är sällan akut giftiga men har däremot subletal påverkan i låga doser. / Fluoxetine is the active substance in many selective serotonin reuptake inhibitive pharmaceuticals that currently enters surface waters. The substance has been shown to affect behaviors of water living organism such as fish, molluscs and crustaceans by making them less cautious. This study investigated the acute (on wild caught individuals) and chronic (on lab reared individuals) effects of fluoxetine on the antipredator behavior of Asellus aquaticus for three concentrations; 0,3 and 30 ng L-1. Three tests were used to determine the effects: (1) time to leave a shelter, (2) spontaneous activity and (3) escape behavior under predation risk. Few statistically significant effects of fluoxetine on A. aquaticus were found. However, individuals exposed to fluoxetine had a significantly shorter (30 %) escape period. Besides this main effect of fluoxetine, significant interactions between the two groups and fluoxetine were also found. When exposed to the highest concentration wild caught individuals increased their spontaneous activity (38 % more stops and 49 % more movement), while lab reared individuals reduced their activity (43 % fewer stop and 37 % less movement). Furthermore, non-exposed individuals from the two groups behaved significantly different in all the tests. It is likely that the differences in behavior occurred due to environmental effects of laboratory rearing, although altered gene frequencies cannot be excluded. This study emphasizes the need for development of methods for more chronic testing of pharmaceuticals, especially considering that pharmaceuticals are seldom acutely toxic but often has sub lethal effects in low doses.

Worldwide, pharmaceutical compounds continue to increase in our aquatic environment. The predominant route into nature is through wastewater treatment plants since the elimination of residual pharmaceuticals is still not mainstream in WWTPs. Fluoxetine is an antidepressant which is commonly prescribed to treat human depression. Wastewater residual fluoxetine is typically found in waters around the world, and can thus affect exposed organisms, such as fish and invertebrates. However, how fluoxetine may affect mating behaviour in exposed organisms remains poorly understood, and particularly so in invertebrates. This is hampering our understanding of the consequences of our medicine leaking into nature because mating behaviour often affects fitness, and invertebrates are key organisms in food chains. Therefore, I here experimentally investigated long-term effects of environmental relevant concentration of fluoxetine (20 ng L-1) on mating behaviours of male and female freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus. I demonstrate that fluoxetine reduced male mating attempts with receptive females. Further, there was a tendency for fluoxetine exposure to increase latency to form pre-copula. There was no effect of fluoxetine exposure on male latency to encounter females or female responses toward males. These results indicate that fluoxetine also can affect isopods by reducing mating behaviour. In the long-term, if reproduction is delayed or reduced, it may cause a reduction in populations and thus, alter the whole ecosystem.