Wednesday, 30 November 2011

A little red underwater planet

 I have brought a few animals from my half barrel (=mini pond) to see close up to a small tank. Most of them are detritus feeders or vegetarians, and regularly I top up the tank with fallen leaves. Today's water was stained red and the reflection of the light in the water and the leaves made the photos take a surreal tint. A Great Pond Snail (Lymnaea palustris) fed on the algae growing on the tank walls (above).
Another snail, Planorbis planorbis
A group of ostracods, small bivalved crustaceans, and a copepod towards the left of the image.
There are also a few water slaters and planarians, but they didn't show as well today.

UPDATE: Thank you to Richard Comont for the pond snail ID, now corrected.

More information
Online aquatic snail identification guide from the Conchological Society. here.

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