Lepadella patella Rotifer

I had no intention of shooting images or video on this slide, it was just a drop of water from my aquarium to test the new setting on my scope, so the slide was dirty to start with and I had just wiped it off with a paper towel. Even the coverslip was used.

And then I found this girl and couldn't resist taking some still and what ended up being 12 minutes of video. She was just the best specimen I have seen of this species and I had to record it.

Here's the video. Probably one of my best videos of this species. Either she was old and dying, or the coverslip was holding her in place, which I suspect is the case, from the way he was acting. I returned her to the tank, still moving, so hopefully she is in there wondering what happened. Watch it in 720P if you have fast internet, and make it big. It's very clear and worth the view.

This video shows the mastax very clearly, even the muscles that make it work, and other various internal organs. And, for the first time with this species, the eyes are clearly visible.

1. All stills shot using a Nikon 20x Plan Apo Objective lens.

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cool critter - neat video

Agree, cool critters...nicely done Mitch.

Thanks for looking Dean and Kurt. These are one of my favorite bugs. Unfortunately, these things show so much more detail in a video, where you can see the parts at work.

Absolutely fascinating, Mitch.

Great work.

Thanks Bas, isn't he cool? This is the first one I have ever been able to see the muscles of the mastax work. I have read about it, but never seen it. It's supposed to be one of the positive ways to identify the species.

Lovely captures Mitch
Brian v.

Thanks Brian. I have seen a lot of these guys, but this was the best specimen to date. Usually they are just the shell, or they move too fast to follow, like most bugs.