Where and how to look for tardigrades?

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bioluminescence
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:06 pm
Location: Northern Europe

Where and how to look for tardigrades?

Post by bioluminescence »

Good day to you!

I had a hard time figuring out which forum would this post belong in the best, and this seemed to be the most suitable place for my question.

I've been wanting to see a tardigrade with my own eyes for quite some time now. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what would be the best place to look for them? From what I've gathered they have been located in a wide spectrum of different places - from amphigastria of various mosses to lichens and floating algae in the ocean. I know they are an extreme case of, well, extremophiles :), and can be found pretty much everywhere, but what kind of habitat would be my best bet? I'll be grateful for any tips, tricks and experiences dealing with these fascinating animals.


Thank you in advance,
J.
Nikon Coolpix 4500

Planapo
Posts: 1581
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:33 am
Location: Germany, in the United States of Europe

Post by Planapo »

Hi,

Tardigrada shouldn´t be to hard to find:

Just collect a few samples of dry moss layer from walls, from roof tiles or out of a building´s eaves gutter. Take it to your room, put it into a petri dish and pour water of room temperature over it. Let it rest for about an hour at room temperature, then examine at around 50-fold magnification. Enjoy!

This recipe has always worked fine around my place. And we are almost neighbours, aren´t we? Well, at least on the global basis of this nice community here :wink:. Where are you from? Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland?

Good luck hunting for the cute "Bärtierchen", that´s what they are called in German.
Betty

[edit: I think this thread should be moved to the "Macro and Micro Technique and Technical Discussions", it doesn´t really fit in here]

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