Rearing and Experimental Uses of Daphnia: Controlling Animal Nutrition and Assessing Lifespan and Life-History Traits.

Caloric restriction has been found to extend the lifespan of many organisms including mammals and other vertebrates. With lifespans exceeding months to years, age-related experiments involving fish and mammals can be overtly costly, both in terms of time and funding. The freshwater crustacean, Daphnia, has a relatively short lifespan (∼50 to 100 days), which makes it a cost-effective alternative animal model for longevity and aging studies.