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28. Microcosm in the aquarium

THE WORLD'S STRONGEST CREATURE

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Hi, I'm a bear of water! Ehhh! That is not a joke!

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These animals seem unreal. They can withstand the worst and most difficult conditions of our world, but have a predilection for living peacefully in our tanks. Are tiny and that is why our eyes go unnoticed. To be so small they look surprisingly similar to of higher animals and comparing it with other creatures of their size are less monstrous.

not about designs or drawings. These are actual pictures taken in a 3-dimensional microscope

The tardigrades (known as water bears , sucker moss or English water bear) are a class of creatures most interesting of our planet: its main feature stands out for its resilience to extreme conditions. Its resistance to death is defined by as incredible. This is true as none Superanimal clinging to life.

quickly and their appearance was related to a bear. Grabs and moves like a sloth inhabit

damp. You can find them easily in the film of moisture that coats mosses and ferns, but populate all liquid is put on it, from oceans to fresh water from rivers, lakes, springs, etc..

has experimented with them and the results are spectacular: you can freeze, boiling, drying, exposure to high radiation ... even leave in the vacuum of outer space. We carry all! It should be added to all these tests, your admirable resistance to weather, it is known with certainty that can be lethargic to awaken 200 years later exactly the same asset. Scientists confirm that the term of this latency can expand over several millennia.

Some researchers speculate the explanation that this is an alien creature!

In the case of a nuclear holocaust, this bug just survive without noticing anything. It is amusing to think that as the heir of a radioactive planet, including mutations, with the passage of time could perhaps evolve into an intelligent creature.

Tardigrada DISCOVERY

In 1773, Johann A. Ephraim Goeze, aquatic zoologist discovered a tiny creature and segmented. Baptized by his funny appearance as "Kleiner Wasser Bars (water bear). Three years later in 1776, put him on behalf Spallanzani tardigrade which means slow-paced . Since then, more than 700 species of water bears have been scheduled around the world, from the Himalaya mountains (at altitudes over 6000 meters) deep ocean (at 4000 meters below sea \u200b\u200blevel) -.

There are over 700 species and measure up to 2 mm

Tardigrades reproduce by eggs and are born with their adult form they do not live in a larval

tardigrade egg, known for its star-shaped

very easily be found at:

1. marine algae and substrate
2. mosses, lichens and various types of sediment

A simple way to locate them is by soaking a piece of moss in spring water.

The tardigrade, or water bear, an invertebrate amazing in every way

CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOR

can be seen with the naked eye, but with difficulty, as they tend to be confused with an amoeba. It is an aquatic invertebrate measures between 0.1 and 1.7 mm, feeds on algae and other animals.

© NIGEL MARLEY. University of Plymouth. Graphic anatomy top

The microscope reveals the grotesque image, rounded, with 8 arms that end in claws and a mouth that resembles a bear's snout.

Detail of the legs. In the second picture, macro claw of a tardigrade

Gifted bilateral symmetry, with the ventral and dorsal flattened convex, tardigrades consist of five segments undifferentiated. A segment of a blunt head contains the mouth and sometimes ocular points and sensory cirri. The remaining four segments each have a pair of legs ventrolateral finished with four to eight claws or suction cups, usually the first three pairs are used for locomotion while the fourth serves to anchor to the substrate as the tardigrades are extremely light and even a slight breeze can easily drag. The outer cuticle that covers can be a variety of colors. The tardigrades are oviparous and undergo a direct development without larval stages.

complete anatomy of a tardigrade

Another possible facet of these invertebrates is surprising that there are strong indications that Eleuterio, ie the number of cells in your body would be fixed for each species, as happens to nematodes.

Vista

bottom and top of a tardigrade

certainly may not be attractive for their physical, but we admire his prowess as it is a living road, the only one who can survive in outer space.

Water Bears do not have circulatory, respiratory, and excretory systems. But the most curious of them is another feature: its ability to adapt to extreme environmental conditions, coming in states of suspended animation called cryptobiosis . They can remain dormant for immense periods of time. By

a drying process can go from having 85% body water, being alone with a 3% In this way, growth, reproduction and metabolism of tardigrades is reduced or stopped temporarily, so they can spend hundreds or thousands years.

This creature is able to dehydrate and remain dormant for centuries revive after

The tardigrades are omnivores and their diet is based on mushrooms, herbs and meat (they feed on bacteria, algae, cryptogams, rotifers, nematodes and other microscopic invertebrates). Usually suck but sometimes their cells ingest whole organisms. The scientists speculate that perhaps for this reason they are so common in nature.

Awesome transparent detail of the head where you can see the mouth (snout), eye and brain

LIFE AN EXAMPLE OF ALL TEST

Whatever we do to survive tardigrades always without problems. We can leave the deep sea, in space, at temperatures exceeding the freezing and cooking ... always come out unscathed.

1. Extreme cold : live well even at freezing temperatures. Support a couple of minutes the -272 ° C, or a whole day to -200 degrees Celsius. They live with no problems at -100 degrees Celsius.
2. Extreme heat : support either 100 ° C and withstand 2 minutes 181 º C.
3. Radiation Extreme is the only animal, far away from the cockroaches, which easily supports the 5700 Gy (Gy = Gray = unit radiation). With only 10-20 Gy killed a human being and most animals.
4. Extreme dehydration : can survive a full decade without water.
5. Media (living?) Ends: survives well under the dive of pure alcohol and ether. A water bear can live in the vacuum of space.
6. Barometer: decals resist pressures equivalent to 300 times that of the atmosphere.

Can the kryptonite??

SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTATION

mid twentieth century, a Dutch scientist added water to some dry tardigrades were on the leaf of a fern that had dried in a museum since the seventeenth century. Surprisingly, after 200 years, water revived the water bears that woke up and continued their normal life.

For its uniqueness this creature is the subject of scientific research

Russian scientists say they have found living tardigrades on the cover of the newcomers rocket from outer space, which have survived long in a vacuum seasons.

The tardigrades can live in the vacuum of space

These animals were shipped on board the spacecraft FOTON-M3 Europe, launched in September 2007 by a Russian rocket Soyuz-U and exposed to the vacuum of space at 270 km altitude. It was one of 43 experiments under the automatic flight in Earth orbit.

not only made it out of hibernation in contact with water without producing any biological disorder, but also reproduced normally (according to researchers: source AFP / Profile).

BEAR "in the aquarium?

In the microworld that is part of our aquariums live this unique animal. Not a pest, they feed on algae and other small animals that inhabit microscopic ecosystem of our aquariums.

But does anyone really seen a bear in your aquarium water?

Can we really find a teddy water in an aquarium?

The answer to this question is found in the following article figure made by our friend Andrew , of \u200b\u200bSan Rafael de Montes de Oca (Costa Rica). We appreciate your kindness by allowing us to publish these great photos and informative (and funny) comments on the microcosm discovered in your marine aquarium. We also thank the excellent forum Aquariums from Costa Rica, where was published this document with great interest.

Microfauna What is living in my aquarium?

Author: © ANDRÉS. San Rafael de Montes de Oca (Costa Rica)
Posted: Aquariums from Costa Rica

Hello! Turns out I was lucky to get a relatively good microscope. These days I have liked seeing all the microfauna that can be found in a marine aquarium. It's amazing that a tiny sample of algae can find a wide variety of microorganisms. Here I present some photos of what I found:

This is an anemone sp Aptasia . © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

This is the detail of one of the tentacles of the anemone before. Symbiotic unicellular algae called zooxanthellae , appearing as small brown circles. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

This is one of the isopods (a type of crustacean) that abound in my fish tank 5 gallon. You can observe, among other things, eyes and digestive tract. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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This is another unidentified crustacean, is not well in the photo. There is "legs pa 'up." © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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This is a nematode. I noticed that where there are dead algae, which makes sense, since many nematodes feed on detritus. Nematodes are relatively well known, as some cause disease in humans and other animals. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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green algae in these beautiful I found several rotifers. This is one of them. Move super fast so was not sure what it was. Eventually I saw the crown of cilia, which move the food into their digestive system. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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This was a surprise. Had seen before but so far I dropped the penny. They are commonly called " foraminifera." They all form some kind of shell that may be limestone, proteinaceous, or a cluster of surrounding materials. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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This is a classic micro-organisms, is a Ciliophora. They are characterized by having many cilia using for quite complex movements. I think the round orange structure is observed is the core. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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These microorganisms in particular were a very pleasant surprise. So nice I almost hit cries of emotion ( tardigrade , tardigrade !) but then I took my psychotropic drugs and everything returned to normal. Well, turns out to be a tardigrade or "water bear." Most of the microscopic organisms have cilia, flagella or "wind" as the nematodes to move through the water. The tardigrades no! They have legs, with which they walk. They also have two "eyes" and are "fat" which makes them look like a "bear." In fact, sometimes it seems that you are smiling at you, but for that are psychotropic drugs. The tardigrades are not only "cute", but they are super tough, they can go into a suspended animation in which they can resist desiccation, extreme temperatures, etc. In fact, one was revived after 200 years of being in suspended animation! But many spoken, here are the pics. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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Well, this is not a microorganism is a cutout sponge. In the second photo shows the detail of what is the "skeleton" of the sponge, composed of thousands of structures called spicules composed of calcium or silica. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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This is a diatom algae . Are unicellular and have a kind of shell made of silica. They often have "designs" products. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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cyanobacteria These are the famous blue-green algae. Some have reddish tones. These filaments are particularly black in the tank. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

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Finally, here's what I think are diatoms. In the tank look like brown algae that cover the glass to form filaments. © ANDREW (Costa Rica)

I hope you have drawn attention to this little tour of the microscopic world of a marine aquarium.

NOTE: We Andrew has all our admiration. Our thanks for their excellent attitude to share knowledge. Remember, to end our article on tardigrades, the author of these amazing images, Andrés very active part in the forum remarkable Rican from Costa Rica Aquariums. Notebooks

artificial ecosystem