Bosmina

{{Short description|Genus of small freshwater animals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Archiv für Naturgeschichte (1922) (20325121182).jpg

| taxon = Bosmina

| authority = Baird, 1845 {{cite web |author=WoRMS |year=2010 |title=Bosmina Baird, 1845 |publisher=World Register of Marine Species |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=106265 |access-date=September 21, 2010}}

| display_parents = 5

}}

Bosmina is a genus in the order Cladocera, the water fleas. Its members can be distinguished from those of Bosminopsis (the only other genus in the family Bosminidae) by the separation of the antennae; in Bosminopsis, the antennae are fused at their bases.{{cite book |editor=James H. Thorp |year=2009 |title=Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates |edition=3rd |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-374855-3 |author=Stanley L. Dodson, Carla E. Cáceres & D. Christopher Rogers |chapter=Cladocera and other Branchiopoda |pages=773–828 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOI9ifbikoQC&pg=PA795}}

Bosmina are filter feeders consuming algae and protozoans about 1–3 μm long. Bosmina are known to have a dual feeding mechanism. They can filter the water using their second and third legs and the first leg will grab the particles. The second and third legs have small setules attached to the seta to make a mesh-like structure for filtering.{{cite journal |author=Agnes H. Bleiwas and Pamela M. Stokes |year=1985 |title=Collection of large and small food particles by Bosmina |journal=Limnology and Oceanography |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=1090–1092 |jstor=2836592 |doi=10.4319/lo.1985.30.5.1090|bibcode=1985LimOc..30.1090B |doi-access=free }}

Some Bosmina species are non-native species, many of which pose a great threat to aquatic ecosystems.{{Cite journal |last1=Kotov |first1=Alexey A. |last2=Karabanov |first2=Dmitry P. |last3=Van Damme |first3=Kay |date=2022-09-09 |title=Non-Indigenous Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda): From a Few Notorious Cases to a Potential Global Faunal Mixing in Aquatic Ecosystems |journal=Water|volume=14 |issue=18 |pages=2806 |doi=10.3390/w14182806 |issn=2073-4441 |doi-access=free}}