While they were sleeping: dormant egg predation by Triops

Dormant egg banks provide a means for many species to survive adverse conditions. This study describes a short-term experiment evaluating predation by the notostracan Triops cancriformis on dormant eggs buried in sediment, i.e. Daphnia ephippia and Triops dormant eggs (cannibalism). Significant predation was recorded on both dormant stages, with no apparent selection. These results indicate that Triops could eradicate the dormant eggs in surface sediments and thereby impact the benthic-pelagic coupling in aquatic systems.