Offspring development and life-history variation in a water flea depends upon clone-specific integration of genetic, non-genetic and environmental cues

1. Theory predicts that offspring developmental strategies involve the integration of genetic, non-genetic and environmental ‘cues’. But it is unclear how cue integration is achieved during development, and whether this pattern is general or genotype-specific. 2. In order to test this, we manipulated the maternal and offspring environments of three genetically distinct clones of the water flea Daphnia magna taken from different populations. We then quantified the effect that the genotype, maternal environment and the offspring environment had on the development and life-histories of the three different clones. 3. Mothers responded to the same maternal environments in different ways, resulting in clone-specific maternal effects on neonate size. Offspring responses to maternal cues varied according to the trait in question and were also clone-specific. The integration of these maternal effects during development was highly context-dependent in two clones but more consistent across environ...