Freshwater Ostracod
Time for an ostracod portrait! This is one of around a hundred ostracod (I believe they are of family Podocopida) that were saved from one a small tank that we tore down this week. I had to make sure we saved a few of them to seed the remaining tank – which I have never seen even a single ostracod in (until now!)
These particular ostracod have a very cyclical lifestyle in the tank which makes me wonder if they might have originated in vernal pools. We see the ostracod predominantly from September through June, when hundreds can be counted in very short order. In July and August I only a small handful can be found, even allowing far more time.
You can find out more about ostracods including their bioluminescent dances and their connection to the Nobel Prize, (truly fascinating buggers, very important to paleontology too) at:
The Other 95% - Ostracod Posts
Evolutionary Novelties - The OstraBlog Posts
As a side note, I think I have finally got a rig for taking pictures through he scope figured out. Actually it's not a rig yet, but now at least I can fabricate a mount so I can have the camera securely connected to the scope.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Subphylum
- Crustacea
- Class
- Ostracoda
- Order
- Podocopida
Life Photo Meme
Interestingly, they always come with daphnia eggs. I have been breeding daphnia for years now, and I always have them in the tank. Even with the strain of daphnia that is certified for bio-essays! Fortunately they don't compete with daphnia for phytoplankton but scrape algae from the glass. I like having them around for their service of shelly-algae-scrapers.
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