What is this
What is this
the water sample came from a runoff swell in my front yard. Can someone tell me what this is?
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Re: What is this
.......the stuff of nightmares. an Ostracod
Re: What is this
Thank you much. I will read up on it.
Re: What is this
The above suggestions are reasonable but I think you found an amphipod. Your specimen is balled up as the water dries and contracts around it, but details of the body shape, eye, antennae and legs look like exactly like an amphipod.
Amphipods are a group of marine and freshwater crustaceans related to shrimp and crabs. Amphipod bodies are flattened from side to side and are sometimes called sideswimmers or scuds by fishermen. The ones I find in ponds, puddles, streams and lakes in Minnesota are typically about 2 to 12mm long. Yours might be in the genus Gammarus (that doesn't narrow it down a lot as there are over 200 species in the genus).
The above arthropods are photographed through a 4X objective and are about 2 annd 3 mm long. If you have learned darkfield illumination amphipods are fun because you can watch their clear blood circulate, and like many other arthropods colorful polar views bring out the muscles.
Keep looking in the water. There are many wonders in there.
Amphipods are a group of marine and freshwater crustaceans related to shrimp and crabs. Amphipod bodies are flattened from side to side and are sometimes called sideswimmers or scuds by fishermen. The ones I find in ponds, puddles, streams and lakes in Minnesota are typically about 2 to 12mm long. Yours might be in the genus Gammarus (that doesn't narrow it down a lot as there are over 200 species in the genus).
The above arthropods are photographed through a 4X objective and are about 2 annd 3 mm long. If you have learned darkfield illumination amphipods are fun because you can watch their clear blood circulate, and like many other arthropods colorful polar views bring out the muscles.
Keep looking in the water. There are many wonders in there.
Re: What is this
You can't see much of it's legs in the original pic which throws it off.