Ostracods

[Majjie]

I've found a couple of critters in one of my fish tanks. They look like big white daphnia from a distance (and must have been in with a recent batch of live daphnia) but when you look at them with your glasses on and thro' a magnifying glass they look like tiny mussels or clams with bivalve shells and antennae sticking out.

I've Googled and found them to be Ostracods. Some fish eat them apparently, but when attacked they withdraw everything into their shell - and my platys obviously don't think they're edible - they keep spitting them out. One reference even suggested that they were useful for cleaning up the tank.

Has anyone come across them before?
Should I leave them as guests in the platy tank, add them to the tiger barb tank (they don't spit much out ) or chuck them out into the garden frog tub?

 

[nmonks]

Ostracods are wonderful animals. The biggest is a deep sea beast, Gigantocypris, about the size of a cherry stone. Most are 1 mm or so. They are crustaceans, but with a clam-like shell. Among biologists, they are famous for having (proportional to their body size) among the largest penises in the animal kingdom. Something like twice as long as their body.

Completely harmless. I have lots in my "pond" tub in the garden. Wonderful to watch, because they swim so purposefully.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Majjie]

Thanks Neale

I'll leave them in there for now and see what happens