Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Crustacean Castanets







Our garden pond is currently full of these little Cypris sp., a.k.a. seed shrimps, that belong to a subclass of crustaceans called ostracods. Each animal resembles a water flea enclosed within a pair of hinged shells. When they’re swimming they look like animated castanets (see video clip), when they’re at rest they look like a minute bean.

1 comment:

  1. How often have we looked in a pond and said there is nothing there whereas the truth is it is teeming with life on the microscopic level.
    To me the amazing thing is how quickly a new pond becomes colonised with a large variety of life.
    Great pictures and lovely to see the video - fascinating.

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