Experimental test of the influence of light availability on the evolution of eye size and behaviour in Daphnia

Abstract

AbstractThere exists extensive variation in eye size. Much work has provided a connection between light availability and differences in eye size across taxa. Experimental tests of the role of the light environment on the evolution of eye size are lacking. Here, we performed a selection experiment that examined the influence of light availability on shifts in eye size and the connection between eye size and phototactic (anti‐predator) behaviour in Daphnia. We set‐up replicate experimental populations of Daphnia, repeatedly evaluated phenotypic shifts in eye size during the ~50‐day experiment, and performed a common garden experiment at the end of the experiment to test for evolutionary shifts in eye size and behaviour. Our phenotypic analyses showed that eye size rapidly diverged between the light treatments; relative eye size was consistently larger in the low versus high light treatments. Selection on eye size was also modified by variation in density as increases in Daphnia density favoured a larger eye. However, we did not observe differences in eye size between the light treatments following two generations of common garden rearing at the end of the experiment. We instead observed strong shifts in anti‐predator behaviour. Daphnia from the low light treatment exhibited decreased phototactic responses to light. Our results show that decreased light relaxes selection on anti‐predator behaviour. Such trends provide new insights into selection on eye size and behaviour.