Virtual Museum of Canada

WATERS OF LIFE

LIFE UNDERWATER

BENTHOS - ENVIRONMENT AND ADAPTATIONS

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Video filmed under a microscope of a leech on a gastropod

VIDEO - 0 min 11 s
This small, whitish leech is a parasite on this gastropod.

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Video filmed under a microscope of an isopod

VIDEO - 0 min 12 s
The protozoans covering this isopod’s body are parasitising it.

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Video filmed under a microscope of eggs of water mites

VIDEO - 0 min 10 s
Water mites deposit their eggs in gelatinous masses on plants in habitats near potential prey for the young to parasitise when they hatch.

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Video filmed under a microscope showing the movement of the legs of the amphipod

VIDEO - 0 min 22 s
Amphipods rapidly move their legs to create a current and bring more oxygen to their gills.

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Video filmed under a microscope showing the transparency of the planarian.

VIDEO - 0 min 20 s
Planarians (flatworms) have no gills, and breathe through osmosis. Water is absorbed into the planarian’s body through its skin. Planarians can also regenerate lost body parts. Planarians are hermaphroditic; each individual is both male and female.

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Video filmed under a microscope showing a worm undulating.

VIDEO - 0 min 10 s
To facilitate gas transfer between their skin and the water, the worm undulates its entire body.

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Video filmed under a microscope showing the head of a trichopteran.

VIDEO - 0 min 08 s
By contorting their bodies, caddisfly larvae increase water circulation through their case, boosting the amount of oxygen that arrives to their gills.

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Video filmed under a microscope showing the red color of the chironomid.

VIDEO - 0 min 07 s
Because deep sediments have very low oxygen concentrations, some organisms, including chironomids (blood worms), have had to evolve the ability to make hemoglobin. This protein transports oxygen within the organism, increasing its ability to absorb oxygen and giving it a reddish colour.
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Video filmed under a microscope of an ephemeropteran.

VIDEO - 0 min 13 s
This mayfly larva’s gills are located on the dorsal part of its abdomen and are protected by two opercula.

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Video filmed under a microscope of a diving beetle

VIDEO - 0 min 07 s
Diving beetle larvae rise to the surface and use the respiratory siphons (urogomphi) on the tip of their abdomen to collect air. This air is kept in reserve, like the oxygen tank of a scuba diver.

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Video filmed under a microscope of a zygopteran larva

VIDEO - 0 min 10 s
Zygopteran (damselfly) larvae breathe through three gill lamellae located at the tip of the abdomen.

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Video filmed under a microscope of an anisopteran larva

VIDEO - 0 min 17 s
Anisopterans (dragonfly) larvae have a muscular rectal chamber which they can fill with water. This rectal pump mainly serves for respiration, but can also be used for locomotion: the larva can contract its muscles, expelling the water and propelling the animal forward.

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LIFE UNDERWATER

BENTHOS