Unidentified creature showing up in Russian ponds and ditches

It's a horseshoe crab and is more closely related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions than to crabs. My kids used to raise them. An interesting tidbit is that they can live for 24-31 years. They are one of the oldest classes of marine arthropods, and are often referred to as living fossils, as they have changed little in the last 350 to 500 million years.

Originally posted by kupoliveson
If I had to pin it on one thing I would say it is a Limulus that recently shed, and it was probably not found in fresh water.

Dr. T

Thanks for the read, Dr. T! I have a Bachelor's in Biology and all I could come up with was "whoa! What's that thing?" Naturally I was interested and curious for the answer so I can appreciate someone having some subject matter expertise in the field and/or doing the research into the possibilites. Again, much appreciated.

I grew up around bay water and we use to find horse shoe crabs all the time and still do, Horse shoe crab was my first thought but then I didn't see the legs here....maybe I just can't see them but I have not seen one that looks like this one before.Plus they are pretty much docile creatures. I am just not sure on this one...thats why I posted here since this is where all the brightest people are in my opinion.

reply to post by CaptGizmo


It's a fairly textbook example of a Triops spp. Not Limulus I'm afraid. The two are superficially similar, but the Triops' (of which there are several species) are more ancestral than the horseshoe crabs and quite significantly different. The example in the movie looks no more than a few inches long which, for a Triops, is large to be sure, but not unprecedented. I would treat claims of "foot long triops' " with skepticism!

Because of their life cycle (similar to that of Artemia, the brine shrimp ('sea monkey')) they can be sporadically abundant when conditions favour the hatching of their cysts and growth to adulthood. Thus, every couple of decades they burst forth into the waterways in large numbers, scaring the cr*p out of people! They're probably the oldest group of the arthropods and pretty cool really!

Originally posted by saint4God

Originally posted by kupoliveson
If I had to pin it on one thing I would say it is a Limulus that recently shed, and it was probably not found in fresh water.

Dr. T

I can appreciate someone having some subject matter expertise in the field and/or doing the research into the possibilites. Again, much appreciated.

Although, unfortunately, providing completely the wrong answer!! It's a Triops, as has previously been mentioned - and a textbook example. Some of the anatomical observations were correct, but lead to the wrong conclusion I'm afraid (not to sound like a smart a$$ or anything!)

Limulus are only superficially similar and, as has also been noted, belong to a totally different group of the arthropoda - the chelicerata. Triops are one of the oldest arthropod groups and have an equally ancestral life cycle, involving the deposition of spores that may remain in the sediment for decades, hatching when conditions are right. This example looks large, but not overly so. Some species of Triops can reach several inches. If a foot long example were found then I'd be surprised, although it would likely mean that the spores can survive for longer than decades!!

Can you eat them ?

Wonder what they taste like ?

Take care.

Regards
Lee

reply to post by Dr. N


what!?! spores, as in fungal type spores, thats really, really weird.

saint4god, somehow i never have imagined you with a bachelors in biology. proves to me yet again that i should completely ignore my preconceptions.

woops.. Posted twice there - didn't think it worked the first time! Hopefully someone will clear the first one away. 'Spores' is just a fancy word for for dormant eggs. Most aquatic arthropods brood their eggs in some way. Those that live in extreme conditions produce highly environmentally resistant eggs that lay in sediment until conditions are right for hatching. These organisms usually only have very short life spans - Triops may only live for a few weeks and that is considered a long time....

What better proof that 'life' serves no purpose except for the passage and modification of genetic material!!

All the best,

N

[edit on 1-6-2008 by Dr. N]

reply to post by jpm1602





Man that stick thing you wrote had me laughing. Another winner from you.

Sorry but that creature is the creepiest thing I've seen in some time.
Yikes...is it trying to use a stinger??

Hands off for me.

- Lee

why most people always poke things with a stick . . . don't they know that all the alien parasite movies start off like this? AND the person who pokes the thing gets it the worste???



notostaca family looks spot on BTW

reply to post by JPhish


Your right... they always do poke it with a stick in the movies..."The Blob"



If it turns out to be none of the previous mentioned then I wonder how big this thing will grow or what it will turn into.

Fantastic theory Prima! Many species can go dormant for years before reviving. I bet you are spot on with that. Lol...we don't eat 'em...
Neither would I.
LOL Lee...I live to make someone laugh. Remember my stay in Clearwater FL. My ex and me were shelling. I learned how to make beautiful nightlights with shells and rtv. Anyway, we came upon a carcass of some ray that washed upon the shore....it could be smelled a quarter mile away. Something on the order of rotten eggs and bird flu diapers.
As we approached it, Theresa said 'poke it with a stick', it stuck.
Ya, it was trying to nail that cane with its little fresh water stinger. It was 'highly agitated'.
[edit on 6/1/2008 by jpm1602]

[edit on 6/1/2008 by jpm1602]

www.liveleak.com...

What do you think of this video?

one scary thing nice find.... i have no clue what it is however.
would get one if i could....

I say poke it all you want with the stick then throw the thing in a pan with butter and garlic and a dash of lemon juice a little salt and pepper mmmmm
That will teach it to be a weird thing

Whoa! That's all cool and all, but dang man. Why did he have to poke it with a stick and everything. Lol. I would crack up laughing if it then flipped up some how, and latched to his face. But, that just goes to show you. This world in which we live in has some, messed up things within it. Next time I'm asked to go swimming in an ocean, lake, etc. Or even jet skiing. Screw that. I'm not getting "pwned" by one of this alien-looking mofos.