Over winter break, I had the time to do some microscopy (my way of saying “I’m looking for worms” without sounding as ridiculous) of woodland soil/leaf litter around my house, and I found some neat species I wanted to share. Each one is labeled with the most specific identification I’m comfortable making, and some photos have arrows indicating interesting structures (I’ll detail those under each description).
1. Pristina (pristinella) sp. This find made my jaw hit the floor, hence why it’s first here. This worm (whether it really is Pristina or not) belongs to a group that is mostly aquatic. The very few terrestrial species in this group that we know of live in tropical soil. Therefore, this could possibly be an undescribed species. My theory is that the leaf litter I collected from is almost always saturated with rainwater, making it possible for a semiaquatic species of genus Pristina to thrive. Even then, I was unable to find any close species match that lives in Eastern USA. One of the most striking features I noticed is the fibrose chaetae (chaetae are the long hairs you see, possessed by many worms; they aid in locomotion, etc..). This essentially means the hair has a bunch of small fibers coming off of it, giving it a “fuzzy” appearance. In the second picture, I have an arrow pointing of one of those fibrose chaetae (it’s long, hair/needle-like, and itself looks hairy).
2. Stercutus niveus This is a potworm that has been on my “to-find” bucket list for a while, so I was shocked to find them in leaf litter. This species is identifiable by the very very dark appearance of the body of the worm (visible in the second picture behind the head). The opaque appearance is due to abundant, pigmented cells known as “chloragocytes” that are attached to the gut and aid in digestion. In S. niveus, the chloragocytes are abnormally large, causing the worm to be opaque and white to the naked eye (brown under light microscopy). This species is really insane due to their resistance to freezing temperatures; they produce a protein in their blood and body cavity that acts like antifreeze. (Check the pinned comment for the rest of this)
I was playing the song To The Flowers by While She Sleeps over a speaker while doing some pond water microscopy. I found this little guy (they belong to the genus Chaetogaster, family Naididae) and recorded him through the microscope by putting my iPhone camera up to the microscope lens. THE LITTLE GUY STARTED HEAD-BANGING FAIRLY ON TIME WITH THE SONG. Cutest thing I’ve witnessed all week.🤘🤘🤘 #invertebrates #freshwater #entomology #worm #earthworm #annelid
A successful Planaria hunt! The planaria is almost definitely Phagocata morgani, a species that prefers colder, cleaner river water, springs, and sometimes even aquifers. The other interesting find are the ants. They are in the genus Temnothorax, and they make their nests exclusively in fallen acorns. #entomology #invertebrates #freshwater #flatworm
Found all these invertebrates yesterday and the day before in a pond and stream near greenfield! A few of these are first time finds for me. The first animal shown is called a Hydra (Hydra sp). They are a genus of freshwater Cnidarians (essentially, they’re related to jellyfish, coral, etc) with ridiculous regenerative abilities. Research has shown that Hydras do not age at all; combined with their ability to regenerate into two hydras when beheaded, they are considered biologically immortal, some being over a millennia old. They’re carnivores that catch prey with the same stinging cells jellyfish use (nematocysts), though they’re incapable of hurting humans or other large animals. In all three pictures, you can see juvenile hydras budding off of the parent, a form of asexual reproduction. The fourth picture (second type of animal shown) is a group of flatworms, most likely belonging to the genus Girardia. They can thrive in just about any freshwater habitat. They also have incredible regenerative capacity due to the abundance of pluripotent stem cells in their bodies. The next animal is a jawed leech, though I don’t recognize the species. Most jawed leeches won’t bite humans. The next species is a worm I found burrowing in the sediment in a stream. I believe it is a Branchuria sp, a species of Tubificid worms. Many Tubificids will burrow into mud or sediment while waving their hemoglobin-rich tails in the water above (lending to their nickname, the Boogie Worms) to capture oxygen. The final animals shown are two snails that belong to the family Planorbidae, a group of lunged snails that can often be found in stagnant waters and wetlands. #freshwater #entomology #ecology #invertebrates
Diplocardia is a unique genus of earthworms found mostly in south eastern North America. There are many species of Diplocardia, some of which can produce brightly-bioluminescent mucus (D. longa), and others that can grow to two or even three feet long (D. fusca). In our area, native earthworm species are threatened by displacement by invasive earthworms and overall habitat destruction, so it is very important to conserve their natural ecosystems. They can be most often found in hardwood forests with a clay-based dirt in my experience, though this isn’t necessarily consistent in other states. I found this one in particular beneath a rock next to a groundwater pool (I’ll try to post my other finds from there when I download the videos off of my field microscope). #earthworm #entomology #ecology #soil
We found this critter underneath a rock in some loamy clay on the border between a forest and a construction storage zone, I plan to post more finds when I make them, I have a few more I’d like to post once I download them off of my field scope #flatworm #worm #invertabrates #entomology
