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Water Slater (Asellus aquaticus) I check and maintain my pond at home most days, and rarely see these bottom feeders, so they immediately attracted my attention.<br /> <br /> As I note in the accompanying video, I suspect they were feeding on a dead frog (a possible concern in itself) which drew them closer to the surface.<br /> <br /> The photo is a little hazy as it&#039;s taken through a couple of inches of daytime water, but luckily the video gives a clearer view, and further information on this pond dweller: <br /> <br /> <section class="video"><iframe width="448" height="282" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/taFMbnneItY?hd=1&autoplay=0&rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></section> Asellus aquaticus,Geotagged,United Kingdom Click/tap to enlarge PromotedSpecies introCountry intro

Water Slater (Asellus aquaticus)

I check and maintain my pond at home most days, and rarely see these bottom feeders, so they immediately attracted my attention.

As I note in the accompanying video, I suspect they were feeding on a dead frog (a possible concern in itself) which drew them closer to the surface.

The photo is a little hazy as it's taken through a couple of inches of daytime water, but luckily the video gives a clearer view, and further information on this pond dweller:

    comments (9)

  1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
    Ferdy Christant
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    Whoa, you got some really amazing stuff going on in that pond! Gives me that really prehistoric vibe. Makes me wonder where these creatures usually hide. Posted 4 years ago
    1. View Philip Booker's profile
      Philip Booker
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      Ferdy

      Right at the bottom of the pond, which is about 3 feet deep. it was one of the first things I did when I bought my house in 2000.

      Interestingly with Water Slaters, they only reach new ponds if somehow they are transported there, perhaps by plants brought in, by birds, or by flooding. This is the reason they tend not to appear in new ponds for a few years.       Posted 4 years ago
      1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
        Ferdy Christant
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        That is good to know. I know nothing about ponds. Only this summer did I start with something extremely simple: a micro pond. It's basically a dug-in bucket of water with some oxygen plants. It's probably not deep enough for richer life, but I did manage to capture mosquitos:

        Mosquito larvae and pupae lifecycle - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands Here's a prime example of a pretty bad idea achieving a goal I didn't even know I had. Or let's just call it luck.<br /> <br /> In another post, Christine encouraged me to look for mosquito eggs/larvae in still waters. So I took the lazy approach, one of my two small ponds in the garden is in the shade and wind-free, and I actually found some there. <br /> <br /> I just poured some of them into a glass. That was the easy part. Next, extreme macro poses a huge challenge here since the water moves, subjects move, which again causes the water to move. Surely the scene isn't static enough to do a deep stack, which typically takes at least 5 minutes to run and require the subject to not even move by 1 mm, or even 0.1mm.<br /> <br /> Out of desperation to at least capture something, I went for it anyway, and the outcome I think is pretty hilarious. To describe what's going on:<br /> <br /> - There's 3 larvae in the scene. One is in the bottom half of the image swimming around, the stack process creating multiple exposures of its movement.<br /> <br /> - The other 2 larvae are attached to the water surface. They use siphon tubes to breath, hanging upside down. You can see the multiple exposures hinting at their movement when attached.<br /> <br /> - There's 1.5 pupae in the scene, the big creature hanging upside down. In this phase it doesn't feed yet it's not immobile. When disturbing the water, it instantly sinks to the bottom. And back up again when it's safe.<br /> <br /> - In the top right is a single water flea interacting with a mosquito larva.<br /> <br /> This entire scene is just about 1cm wide, a tiny section of a glass. As a casual observation, in the few hours I was busy with this glass, 3 pupae transformed into adults and flew away. <br /> <br /> More to come later :) Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,The Netherlands

        Culex pipiens - pupa 3, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there's less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96950/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96947/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_2_heesch_netherlands.html Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,WeMacro
         Posted 4 years ago, modified 4 years ago
        1. View Philip Booker's profile
          Philip Booker
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          You'll be surprised what water will attract.

          Even the smallest pond makes a difference.

          Always use rainwater though.           Posted 4 years ago
  3. View Ruth Spigelman's profile
    Ruth Spigelman
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    What a great post, informative and educational. Thank you. Posted 4 years ago
    1. View Philip Booker's profile
      Philip Booker
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      Ruth

      An absolute pleasure,

      Thank you.

      pk       Posted 4 years ago
  5. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
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    Fantastic! I love searching for aquatic invertebrates. I found an aquatic sow bug this past spring:
    Aquatic Sow Bug - Caecidotea sp. Collected from a pond and photographed at home. Caecidotea,Geotagged,Isopoda,Spring,United States,aquatic sow bug,isopod,sow bug
     Posted 4 years ago
    1. View Philip Booker's profile
      Philip Booker
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      Sow do I. Posted 4 years ago
      1. View Christine Young's profile
        Christine Young
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        ;P Posted 4 years ago

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The Water Hoglouse

''Asellus aquaticus'' is a freshwater crustacean resembling a woodlouse. It is known by common names including "waterlouse", "aquatic sowbug" and "water hoglouse".

Info 1 1
Similar species: Brood Pouch Crustaceans
Species identified by Philip Booker
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By Philip Booker

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Uploaded Oct 21, 2020. Captured in 79 Lynchet Cl, Brighton BN1 7EY, UK.
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