A cautionary tale. In 1989, an ostracod worker (Dr. Koen Martens) collected some unique fairy shrimp in South Africa. He passed these on to Dr. Luc Brendonck, who realized that these fairy shrimp were quite unique. They were described as the only member of a new genus, called Rhinobranchipus, with the species name, martensi, honoring the original discoverer. #arthropoda #crustacea #branchiopoda #anostraca #southafrica
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Going back through the images year-by-year, you really get a sense as to when focus stacking started to become widespread. In the 1990s, images were all flat.
Here is a recent honoree, a photo of an anostracan larvae. #arthropoda #crustacea #anostraca #branchiopoda

One of the things that makes B. raptor remarkable is what it eats. It is a predator; it eats smaller fairy shrimp, chironomid midges, mosquito larvae, cladocerans, copepods, and ostracods. Rogers et al. speculate it could likely handle amphibian larvae if given the change (sounds like it is time for an experiment!). Look at that spiny endopod--that is not for giving hugs! #hugs #fairyshrimp #seamonkey #arthropoda #anostraca #branchiopoda
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