Interesting critters

[jeffrey]

I noticed some interesting creatures among my daphnia today as I was sifting for small ones for the larvae. Could anyone possibly identity these? My books do not have a picture or description of them.

 

[peter]

I could be wrong, but when I saw some of those, and looked them up, they were a form a midge larvae, I think.

Don't take my word on it, though.

 

[edward]

They do look like a midge larva.
Look up "glassworms" for a comparision. Some of those types of midge larva are predators and there are reports of them consuming larval fish.

Ed

 

[jeffrey]

Thanks Peter and Ed.

I also received a separate reply identifying them as phantom midge larva.

I managed to spot a few smaller specimens in the larvae tubs and removed them straight away, for safety.

 

[alan]

Yup, they're glassworms. Not harmful to anything bigger than a few milimetres long, good food! After reading about these for years, I'd never actually seen one until this year when they showed up in my outdoor Daphnia cultures. Must be climate change...

 

[jeffrey]

My removing of them was before I had any information on them, I would rather be safe than sorry in that regard. The C.O.s quite enjoyed munching on them.

Thanks for the input from everyone