Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Swimming in the Light

There are thousands of critters swimming in the cast of our underwater lights. Since the lights are in 4 feet of 44F degree water, it is impossible to get a close macro view of them. They are far too small to net.

If someone knows what they are, then I will leave them alone. If not I will have to capture some and put them under my microscope.

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These were in my pond this summer, my son called them water fleas or Daphnia.

HEY, CODY!

Bill Cody take a look. Dwight I call that fish food. We see that as the water cools. A new crop of inverts possibly drawn to the light. Catch a few and lets take a closer look.

I'll see what I can do this evening regarding capture. I did fire up my Stereoscopic Microscope so I am ready for them.

This is getting almost Tom Swiftian.

It was super windy this evening so sampling was pretty much a bust. I did retrieve this Alienesque guy.

It almost looks like a small damselfly, but that's just a WAG.

I think aliens have landed at Bremer Pond.

What did it taste like?

Chicken?

Don't worry Sunil, Dwight will make some into jerky and send it to you.

It dried up before I could get it into the hot bacon grease.

Am I impressed that Dwight has his own microscope....Yes
Am I suprised that Dwight has his own microscope....No

I think I was treated for that in college once. You sure that came from your pond?

It looks like an immature dragon fly to me.

99 percent of the creatures in the light are many times smaller that this specimen. They are so small that my 30X scope doesn't show any of their detail.

That's what I get for using a microscope that I bought for identifying counterfeit coins. I am going to check to see if there are higher powered optics available for it. This particular microscope has a built in digital camera so it is pretty cool.

Me too. Let us know what you find out about your scope.

I have a good friend who has some pull at a nearby university. I am sending him a vial of the creatures for some microscopic photography and expert analysis.

With my 7X loupe, two Coronas, and an LED light behind the vial I can see at least 3 different creatures. I wonder if one more Corona would increase my perceptive ability.

Yep I emailed Dave today. Those boys will find some interesting critters. Will not be surprised if they find a lot of one species in many sizes.

If you look through the mouth of that extra Corona through the bottom it might add about 3X magnification - so you might see better. --

The extra Corona will only make them appear more atrractive.

Good Point!

Thank you Dave Willis and Mark Kaemingk (SDSU) for identifying the critters in the sample that I sent to them for analysis.

When Mark put the 25 mL sample under the compound microscope he found 60 (2400 per Liter) Diaptomus and 1 Bosmina.

Diaptomus

Bosmina


Given that the numbers of Diaptomus are consistent across the entire pond, there are approximately 150 billion of these little guys swimming around. That is a lot of zooplankters!

very cool, guys. Are these actual pics of the critter, or representative images?

Is bosmina a type of what is called a water flea, or daphnia?

Sweet report.

Burger -- Mark just grabbed the images off the internet. He chose pictures that matched what he saw under the scope. It's pretty easy to get the genus of these zooplankton (Diaptomus), but it's often more difficult to get the species (e.g., Diaptomus clavipes vs. Diaptomus pallidus). For species, we have to call in the big guns like Bill Cody.

Excellent timing - well done!