Comments on: No Mystery In These Photos

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:05:10 +0000

For a moment I thought—-
Trilobite!!!

For ONE moment.

Never seen one of the triops, though. Cool!!!

By: DARHOP

DARHOP — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:13:55 +0000

The workers killed it and these are the remains.”

Figures.

By: Saint Vitus

Saint Vitus — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:42:17 +0000

I recognized it immediately as a Triops. I tried to raise them once as a kid, but had better luck with sea monkeys(and I also had green anoles and countless other small critters).

By: Alligator

Alligator — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:03:50 +0000

Triops is reminiscent of some of the really bizarre (and I can’t emphasize that word enough) fossil creatures found in the Burgess Shale deposit in Canada. Most of these critters were very tiny, but absolutely nightmarish in appearance. How many of them may have lived or functioned is pretty mysterious, since some of the body parts correspond with nothing we’re familiar with in any life forms today. In a way, even though we can see the physical proof of these things, they still remain “cryptids”. There is one book out about them called Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould. A Google search for Burgess Shale will also turn up some good articles and pictures.

By: Sordes

Sordes — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:14:58 +0000

Some triops species grow indeed even a bit bigger, about 10cm, like a small fish, and I suppose the specimen on the photos belonged to one of the larger species.

By: Rappy

Rappy — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 08:09:48 +0000

Mystery-man: They do here in America too. I remember having some fun with Triops care after one of my green anoles died of old age. They are neat little creatures indeed.

By: Ceroill

Ceroill — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:10:20 +0000

MM- neat!

By: Sharmz

Sharmz — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:56:17 +0000

A few months ago I found a video on youtube about this creature. I was so amazed, to say the least

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:42:51 +0000

Ceroill- The Triops are actually very interesting creatures for a couple of reasons. Not only have they remained virtually unchanged for around 350 million years, but they have a fairly unique lifestyle. They inhabit small, temporary pools of water that form after flashfloods or heavy rainy seasons. Since these habitats are not permanent, the Triops have a a short life cycle and their eggs go into dormant stasis when the pool dries up. When the rains come again, viola! A new generation is born.

The only reason I really looked into this particular creature is that in Japan, they sell them in kits as pets. You can pour the eggs into water and hatch them kind of like sea moneys. Someone gave it to me as a gift, knowing what a science nut I am, and I couldn’t resist looking for more information on them.

By: Ceroill

Ceroill — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:16:16 +0000

MM, thanks. I knew the Horseshoe Crab isn’t a true crab, but thanks for the other info. I’ve always found them fascinating critters, and this is my first introduction to Triops. Maybe someday we’ll find trilobites or crinoids in some incredibly deep or oddly mineralized part of the sea floor.