Aquatic sowbug or Asellus
These small animals live on the bottom of youre pond.
They thrive when the water is muddy, and are active
during the evening and night.
A sowbug is a close relativ of the woodlouse
and has a striking ressemblance , but is more
flat and has longer antennas.
What does a aquatic sowbug eat?
As a scavenger they eat rotten things, like fallen
leaves of trees and the algae they find on the bottom.
These isopods have gills on the underside and have
the ability to live in very oxygen-depleted environments,
like the bottom of the pond.
cultivating the aquatic sowbug
On the bottom of a basket put a lot of dead
leaves and some mud from a pond. The sow bug
will appeare and can be used as a living food
for salamanders and fishes. This can be combined
with cultivating Daphnia.
Asellus or the sowbug is a clumsy swimmer too,
who swims on one side.
photo made by webcam
Asellus from the underside. This animal is missing 3 legs,
but some months after this photo has been made it's
still alive. These photo's were made with a webcam.
woodlouse on this website
woodlouse
baltic isopods
Asellus
Microscopic photos can be found here:
rotifers
mysis
glass
waterdrop
cyclops
diaptomus
infusoria
house mosquito
zooplankton
brachionus calyciflorus
water bears
|
|
