I'm just getting into home microscopy. I find rotifers fascinating, I'd like to learn more about them. Is there a good guide that might help me to ID them?
Found one tonight in a sample of tree lichen. It was very active. It moved by the "inchworm" style of locomotion. It didn't swim at all. It had a very narrow "head" and mouth parts. It was difficult to see the corona even in the 40x objective, but I did see a little cilia motion when it was positioned just right. It seemed to be feeding by biting of pieces of moss and algae. Any ideas what it might have been? Sorry, I don't have the means to get any good photos at this point.
Illustrated rotifer ID key?
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Re: Illustrated rotifer ID key?
Rotifers that move like inchworms (or leeches, which gives them their name) are in general Bdelloidea, and are very typical of terrestrial habitats since they can survive drying out. Here are some pages I know of that should help for identifying rotifers in general:
- Plingfactory: The Rotifers of Germany and Neighbouring Countries
- Shiel (1995). A Guide to Identifications of Rotifers, Cladocerans and Copepods from Australian Inland Waters (pdf)
- An Image-Based Key to the Zooplankton of North America (though no bdelloids here)
Re: Illustrated rotifer ID key?
Here are a couple of links from the Resources (online, books etc.) section that you may find of use:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=703
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=46
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=703
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=46
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
Re: Illustrated rotifer ID key?
Thanks! Good stuff!