I hadn't until today, sadly enough. At least, not that I recall.
They are also refered to inaccurately as tadpole shrimp or sheild shrimp. "True" shrimp are in a different (and less-primitive) crustactean group.
http://mytriops.com/articles/images/Triops_numidicus.jpg
http://mytriops.com/news/
http://forums.zootycoon.com/forums/thread/104382.aspx
http://www.akvaristika.org/forum/uploads/mikki/images/triops_12.jpg
http://www.sears.com:80/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05293439000P?vName=Toys+&psid=FROOGLE01&sName=Adult+%2812+%29&cName=Games&sid=IDx20070921x00003a
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3714524.stm
Apparently, they are easy raised as pets, with eggs living dormant for an extended time, making them available to children as "instant pets"
They remind me of a horseshoe crab, and like the horseshoe crab, are decidedly a "living fossil"
In the sense that I am surprised to be surprised by an object of natural bewonderment, this reminds me of a solifugid, aka the wind scorpion, which I just had no idea about at all and as such came as a huge surprise to me.
http://proxychi.baremetal.com/hydrogenappliances.com/Wind_Scorpion.jpg
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0407/feature5/index.html
This is all embarrassing to say. But each time I learn something, I am catching up ;-)
The Yellow Wallpaper (2022)
13 hours ago
These remind me a bit of those "sea monkey" kits that we raised brine shrimp in.
ReplyDeleteThere is a good reason these remind you of brine shrimp. I did a bit of research, and they are fairly closely related, both branchiopods, a group of primitive crustaceans. And you are exactly right: these animals are sold as instant live pets the same way as "sea monkeys" are, and are often directly compared and contrasted.
ReplyDelete