Water Fleas: Look Weird, Adapt Weirder

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This video contains the song Fireworks by Andrew Huang, available here:
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Music by Andrew Huang:
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Journey to the Microcosmos is a Complexly production.
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SOURCES:
link.springer.com/chapter/10....
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NB...
research.nhm.org/glossary/def...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
elifesciences.org/articles/48459
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
link.springer.com/article/10....
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
www.nature.com/articles/414899a

[@rotifer]

*Water bears are not bears,* *Water fleas are not fleas,* *But if you hook up with this Rotifer,* *What you get is what you see.*

[@evilsharkey8954]

Rotifer, isn’t that one of your kin at 10:04, under the cladoceran’s butt?

[@rqzzlldqzzls]

@@evilsharkey8954 OOO EXPOSED

[@cladoceraarthropoda8407]

This is why we’re not friends Rotifer!

[@cheaterman49]

Please tell us, have you been through a daphnea's digestive tract? What is it like? Do you turn this into one of your crazy challenges with your friends?

[@rotifer]

@@evilsharkey8954 *That... Was me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in that situation.*

[@petermcguinness1718]

When I was about 15, I was on a biology field trip. Someone stumbled across a small pond that was packed with daphnia. None of the others knew what they were, but I confidently identified them as daphnia. When the teacher’s text confirmed my hypothesis, it did nothing for my social standing, at all. Knowledge is dangerous

[@Meetmountain]

Ignorance is bliss

[@mattquinn2427]

HAHHAHAAHHAHA!!!!!

[@evilsharkey8954]

Knowing things in school makes you a nerd.

[@cleanerben9636]

[inhales] NNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!

[@Meetmountain]

@@evilsharkey8954 Knowing things in society makes you dangerous

[@jumperdude1]

"I wouldn't lie to you. That's not the type of show this is." (Daphnia takes a dump on screen.) (Pause for effect.)

[@tyson31415]

My friend was like "It pooped!" and pumped his hands in the air. It doesn't take much to excite us anymore.

[@thorild69]

Thank the Gods, we are not alone in our poopsight

[@vitalygoji]

This guy with the straight face will tell you that all this advanced bio machinery created by chance and Mr. Evolution.

[@dyingbreed7740]

The type of show this is; tiny animals pooping type show

[@darkmoonthedirewolf9231]

Literally thought the same thing lmao

[@a.bookmonkey6790]

I’m in the middle of finals for this strangest semester of college, and this is exactly the break from stress I need right now

[@christopherpappas7474]

Good luck on the exams. 🙃☮️

[@MrWeezy312]

Same here, hard to study for history when you are living through it. Good luck with everything

[@roneliadelgrange8315]

A. Bookmonkey me too. Strange finals indeed.

[@friend6281]

Best wishes to you!

[@hanniacs3531]

Same, good luck !

[@astick5249]

i'm waiting for rotifer to comment about that rotifer that was filtered through the water flea.

[@tameronica]

lmao me too

[@ristopoho824]

Oh yay you finally made a video about my favourite aliens on earth. I had my labwork training at a waterecology lab. One of the things i did there was take care of the daphnia they had. On the first weeks i was there, the prof gave me a small bottle with the daphnia we were microscoping to get familiar with the things. To keep in a bottle and see how long it's going to live. With them it may be days, it may be months. Well it kinda got kids a few days after, and it's offspring live in my aquarium still to this day, 3 years later. I do want a more social pet someday. But watching them is nice to do in the mornings.

[@elenatroiae]

Risto Pöhö this warmed my heart

[@paintedwings74]

It is fun having the tiny little animals around, isn't it? It's sort of meditative, when you sit down and watch them doing their thing; in my "Odd Pond" aquarium, I've just put the critters that I found living on or in the trash I cleaned out of our nearby lagoon. It's a really fascinating bunch. The big guys are dragonfly larvae, water beetles, and leeches. Then there are snails, little guys of two species; which I've seen the leeches attack and eat! Then it gets down to the easily-seen but tiny, copopods and freshwater shrimp, darting around quickly whenever I turn on a light, then hiding in either the duckweed at the top or down in the substrate. And then there's the super-tiny fellows living down in the substrate; I'll take a 10X lens and a flashlight and look at them once in a while, little green beetles so small that even my very good vision can't quite focus on them without magnification, living down between the bits of gravel. And then there are all the little worms in the mud beneath the gravel--which I think make up the majority of the leeches' diet, since I don't feed them anything. When I clean Odd Pond, I always let the water settle before I discard it. I don't want to miss any of the little creatures, even if they're nameless and ephemeral. They're just too interesting to let them go down the drain.

[@PurtyPurple]

@@paintedwings74 What a nice comment, that made me smile

[@captain0080]

"imagine using your feet to filter food and your ears to swim, *that* is how the water flea *do* " Put me in the team, Zefrank. I'm ready!

[@superdeadlyaxo1230]

Yaa

[@dreyhawk]

Perfect imitation of Zefrank!

[@apollofell3925]

One of my first, most memorable moments as a biology student was the day I managed to catch one of these in a single drop of water under a compound microscope. They are so beautiful and fascinating, they seem too complex to exist on such a small scale.

[@BlaBla-pf8mf]

Rotifer got yeeted. Expect him to complain in comments.

[@TheRogueWolf]

Give him a little time. He's probably recovering from the trauma.

[@samrakita4279]

In my bio lab we did the whole alcohol/heart beat experiment. I can confirm that they act silly and drunk afterwards. (don't worry they were ok, we had a "rehab" tank for them to recover in)

[@annabeth8376]

Speaking of their reproduction cycles, I worked in my college's environmental toxicology lab, which frequently used water fleas for toxicity tests, and we noticed that this shift from asexual to sexual reproduction happened for our fleas even with very little change in external stimuli! Every single day of the year, our reserves of these little ladies were kept in the same windowless lighted incubator at the same temp in a room with no windows and the exact same feeding schedule. Yet, every year in the Fall, they would undergo sexual reproduction as if they knew the seasons were changing! They were taken out for a maximum of 20 minutes a day for feedings, during which maybe they sensed the building's A/C changes throughout the year, but that's still so minor! It was crazy!

[@pilotavery]

They have a biological clock that's accurate to about 2 weeks a year. They'll actually do it inside a sensory deprivation chamber as well.

[@notteludette2682]

It all makes sense now: Two eyes merged into one.. Filter feeding.. Teeth out of the neck.. Sonic is a Daphnia!

[@rotifer]

4:52 - *How DISRESPECTFUL!* (Sorry for the delayed third response. I was recollecting my composure after such an escapade)

[@alephkasai9384]

You weren't even good enough to be eaten

[@kingko69]

Thank you to anyone and everyone who has ever donated to this show.

[@davetoms1]

0:00 *Hank:* "Water Fleas are not fleas." 10:00 *Me:* "Duh. Look at those Water Penguins."

[@takashi.mizuiro]

Dave Toms same

[@rainbowosprey1619]

I was thinking Water Plague Doctors

[@smaakjeks]

4:55 - Didn't even take the poor Rotifer out to dinner first. Just used and dropped off.

[@UpcycleElectronics]

10:20 This is an awesome desktop background. It looks like the microcosmic equivalent to "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." 4 dudes just hanging out, standing/laying around. The little guy? 'Pay no attention to the little guy. What little guy. I don't see no little guy.'

[@cyn3rgy759]

I would love to see someone create a 3d model of what these things would look like without the microscope.

[@WobblesandBean]

Honestly? They just look like little, twitching dots.

[@cladoceraarthropoda8407]

4:04, we are forever thankful 💙

[@crabenjoyergoat]

*Neck teeth* I didn't expect to hear that today, especially about daphnia.

[@ravensnflies8167]

01:15 its THAT kind of show though LOL!

[@barateza16]

These guys are genius. They chose a subject that will probably never run out of good content.

[@VyvienneEaux]

I have been obsessed with Daphnia since I was in fourth grade, and now I have a colony of Daphnia magna in a fishbowl!

[@DKN117]

Imagine being in the position of that rotifer at 5:00 - minding your own business, ambling along, when suddenly something sucks you up and swallows you whole, and a few seconds later shits you out the other end alive and completely intact.

[@spiercephotography]

Whoa, it's so trippy/cool to see all the movement inside their bodies. Also to learn more about them - Neat!

[@MattySquared]

I had Daphnia appear in my fish tank unintentionally. The majority of them settled on a log exposed just above the waters surface. They were fascinating to watch them bounce around of the waters surface. Unfortunately the aquarium’s seem broke and emptied out of over my floor. I lost most of my fish and as far as I know all of my “water flea” friends :( However, thank you for this very informative video! I am fascinated by your content and I feel inspired to buy a microscope for myself now

[@absentfish1706]

Yes! A video about cladoceras. Sorry, at 1:30 that's not a Bosmina, it is a Chydorus (or some other member of Chydoridae) and at 10:02 it is a Bosmina. Also most of the footage of Daphnia, is of Simocephalus...

[@zddxddyddw]

Oh god, this gave me flashbacks of when I had my final on arthropods (actually the last final I had before quarantine). I remember the Cladoceran life cycle was a nightmare to remember. You guys explained it much more easily and clearly than my class diagrams.

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

8:14 "Times are tough... time to relax with some vitamin D"

[@SongbirdOfficial]

It's kinda crazy how adaptable these things are. Reproducing super fast, changing body parts and plans in response to predators in one generation that only takes 3-ish days to produce, antennae for legs and legs for teeth (and teeth on their neck)...

[@LEDewey_MD]

Poetry in the microcosmos...💞

[@user-dz9yk8qc8q]

Daphnia, I used to culture these creatures for my fish colonies, fishes love them alot!

Fun fact 1: you can order daphnia eggs on ebay (I already got a few shipments, they hatch!) Fun fact 2: once I got a few zebras (danio) hatch so I needed a new aquarium for them ASAP, I asked the girl next door for one. She gave me a small aquarium she didn't use for years. I cleared it, boiled the substrate 2 times, and a few weeks later after years of dryness and 2 boils, small crustaceans (similar but different species to daphnia) hatched among the zebras. Those eggs can really survive!

[@Onihikage]

My first introduction to water fleas was the March 23, 1986 episode of Nature, titled _Death Trap,_ narrated by George Page and set to some (at times) fantastical music. It's possible to find it here on KZbin. This video makes a nice addition.

[@stephen3595]

Daphnia are the only thing I've ever been like, oh I know 100% what that is. I feed them in my aquariums some times.

[@ohrats731]

Gravewax haha same. My friend sent me this video and I was like oh cute, fish food. Then the video had to go and drop that guilt bomb about how they save daphnia from the fish store 😂

[@alphaamoeba]

1:17 **proceeds to poop**

[@CSGraves]

The timestamp we needed!

[@miatra4954]

1:15 it did a lil poopoo lmao

[@Shaden0040]

Interesting to see the shell of the Daphnia is made up of hexagonal shapes. Strong structural integrity!

[@bread5795]

hexagons are the bestagons

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

@@bread5795 compound eyes scare me

[@pilotavery]

Each one of those hexagons is a single large molecule, a large protein, and they click together with electrostatic forces to form the shell. Biology is amazing.

[@Bellazme]

Love all your posts..you are a breath of fresh air. Thank YOU.

[@johnmaclean2040]

Love, love, absolutely love hanks voice.

[@floraazul7622]

I love all these videos... thanks so much for making these fun, artful, and educational videos!

[@linefortier8595]

I agree with you. Two of my grandchildren love so much (and learn english, a bit)

[@tsopmocful1958]

I remember as a kid using a torch to make them swarm in a farm dam, and how they would grow horns during their mating season.

[@fantasticalfascination]

This channel is so great and I love it so much. Thank you for the calm, even delivery without sacrificing humor, it's so nice.

[@santiagocalvo]

This is by far the best channel in youtube, thanks!! and keep up the great work!

[@grannymac3929]

Love your voice. If you ever get bored, become a hypnotist. Just relax your mind and be one with the microcosmos of the universe.

[@ethan-loves]

Thank you, patrons and Microcosmos staff!

[@childofcascadia]

Baha that poor rotifer got a full tour of the daphnias digestive system. I love rotifers, the hapless denizens of the microcosmos

[@delilah4668]

I’m not like other girls, I’m a water flea

[@spyrofrost9158]

Hot.

[@GeoffPlays]

Takanashi Souta would like to know your location

[@wildmnwilton3366]

I'm a water flea, I'm like most other girls and guys genetically, but it's what's outside that matters

[@the_egg_]

I have snake arms

[@Cethavi]

I want to see your neck teeth

[@emmydog1519]

I worked in a lab that handled a lot of wastewater effluent; I saw red daphnia in my samples almost every day. The way they moved while I suctioned water out of my TSS samples always unsettled me (along with the stink, of course).

[@youcefchoiuha1017]

The weird thing about water fleas is this little buddies can develop their shells according to their predators.

[@DarkPhive]

Absolutely brilliant per usual!

[@nathanwalker4144]

just woke up. New microcosmos video? I think i will.

[@inkynebula]

Thank you for all those videos! Exceptional quality and knowledge! Keep it up! ❤️

[@gailhowes9398]

This is so fascinating and the narrator has a wonderful voice!

[@bloodandempire]

Thank you for this video and all the other ones you’ve made *recently*. I crave normal and knowledge. The life forms you highlight are a reminder of the tenacity of life. I love exploring “the unseen world” with you guys... especially right now.

[@user-rb3kk1pb3z]

Love the soft voice!

[@matthewbartup7948]

Really learned a lot about a creature I thought I knew a lot about, having cultured them for several years now to feed my more picky eating fish I really never gave them the time of day to really look into them...it's why I love this channel, almost all of it is entirely new and interesting to me, but even with stuff I was fairly well versed on beforehand, you don't fail to teach me more!

[@grantmosal5475]

I work with these guys almost everyday and there's still a ton I learned from this video. Thanks!

[@brendakrieger7000]

Great footage! Thank you for sharing🔬

[@aurelienyonrac]

Great video and audio.

[@lyndondowling2733]

AMAZING... very informative and suberbly presented.

[@lumpsuckerlover]

I just found this channel and I have a degree in aquatic ecosystems. This video is amazingly informative and calming

[@leightondawson5447]

Great stuff :) keep up the good work!

[@SolarScion]

*Instant subscribe* I love this format. It's a lot more low-key, and has a nice intimacy that is a welcome contrast to bombastic, artificially energetic YT norm.

[@Aye_Bio]

Creo que canal debe estar entre los mejores de youtube. ¡Excelente trabajo y producción! Gracias por compartir estos videos tan increíbles y hacer accesible la observación del microcosmos

[@jonatgan8546]

yay!!! finally a show to watch when i wake up at the middle of the night during the school year :) i’ve also been cultivating a jar full of water and dirt and i see some water fleas sometimes!!

[@jredmane]

This series has SUCH a good soundtrack!

[@aaronnekrin5150]

Muc love brother. Thanks for the new vid.

[@Larsanator]

Thanks for the vid!

[@davidblackwell614]

Another mind blowing episode of bringing life into focus through the micro- thanks!

[@linefortier8595]

WONDERFUL NATURE...And I like explanations. Thanks for subtitles, too.

[@garygranato9164]

what a great educational video, especially during these crazy lockdown times. thank you

[@yukimura1sanada]

Great video, would love to see more videos about aquarium micro-fauna it's fascinating.

[@sonofaquack6987]

It really is

[@adhityakapoer1950]

This episode very helping me as daphnia breeder. There a lot important information. Thanks a alot ^^

[@kellyharrison5184]

Fascinating!

[@roddyaxolotl8519]

The unidentified cladocerans near the end look like they've got little plague doctor masks

[@revenevan11]

I love the way they're just chilling there like they're floating in space or something, and then the one is facing a different direction like the kerbals on the title screen of KSP lol

[@sallouma5393]

Interesting, thank you so much for this beautiful video.

[@CristanMeijer]

I'm curious: can anyone tell me how many cells a Daphnia has? (or at least: what order of magnitude)

[@vithalbhaipatel1013]

Good show. Well information.

[@squidgopromegamatt98]

Your videos are so entertaining and educational, dont ever stop

[@daniell1483]

I like the way they handle reproduction. Parthenogenesis seems like a great tool to fill up an environment quickly, whereas sexual reproduction manages to give them critical genetic reshuffling. Being able to do both seems like an important ability considering their status.

[@ChrisBryer]

8:42 am i the only one that thinks the bubble in this part resembles some of this realistic interpretations of black holes?

[@BenCazzola]

Ive just started a daphnia culture in a big jar jar on my windowsill. Im mesmerised by them. these images are amazing thank you chaps. any tips gratefully received James. or carry on regardless fine sir!

[@jimmyjames2022]

Great video, great channel.. Another favourite crustacean of freshwater aquarists is the copepod cyclops. I have cyclops in my Neocaridina tank for the shrimp to nibble on. Worth noting for those interested, that Daphnia are used for bioassays in Environmental Science to detect toxic chemical levels in water assays of industrial effluent (wastewater) going into a natural watercourse. More cost effective (and perhaps less cruel depending on your personal ethic) than using trout, another common test subject. A common test is mortality of 50% of test subjects over 96 hours, subject to varying dilutions of effluent to reflect varying concentrations in receiving water.

[@ThatGuyRomero]

Yo MC team..Love these stress reducing ..super informative.. profound videos of the microverse and its inhabitants

[@Beryllahawk]

Great video :D I never heard of water fleas before so this was all new info to me!

[@AlyxGlide]

Glad I'm not alone in mediating caffeine for critters! I have a worm farm that I am a little cautious of over feeding coffee grinds to 🙂

[@Cheshirekat.]

i mean, i knew they exited but ive never seen them on anything other than a page, these guys are wild. I think this is your best one yet.

[@gargarfinks]

Ooo they really vibin' to that opening track.

[@fancyobsession1803]

Hi Hank and team, I have the same few questions again :P : 1. Under the microscope, how much of the z-axis do we see (besides the x-y plane)? What's the DOF that we are dealing with? 2. How thick is the typical z-axis when samples are prepared? 3. So far all the movement we see is left-right up-down, all we learn in school and see everywhere is that the "microcosmos" world is "flat"; how different do the organisms react/move when it's in the "real" world (where z-axis is "infinite") vs on the limited depth of the samples that we are viewing? 4. Do micro organism even care about 3D space, or everything to them is 2D-ish? Some organism seems to be 2D ish like amoebas, are they more like a blob (vs a splash) in real life? 5. Any technology available to have a more 3D representation of the microcosmos?

[@vithalbhaipatel1013]

Good information.. Well show.

[@exiufu]

I love your show.

[@meetthecassiani]

Freaking cool! I love this channel.

[@jcookepaleo]

My jaw dropped when I saw those vorticella on that water flea - what a cool shot.

[@BuilderD]

Really cool! Something I'd enjoy hearing sometime is an episode on how some of this stuff is known with certainty - the daphnia might have the eye and the photoreceptor, but I've never really been clear on how it's known. Sure it makes sense that the black non moving thing is a photoreceptor. But how was it proven the black dot is a secind photoreceptor?

[@Zephiruxz]

andrew huangs music makes this truly magical

[@gringrin3979]

Gotta love the back-teeth, the teeth with which one may use to avoid being eaten, the anti-teeth. Mini-spike or tiny-tusk would just be too easy for SCIENCE. Gotta love the back-teeth! 🦷 😁

[@ignae]

It's like listening to very calm Sheldon. Love the channel, how fascinating a microcosmos within the microcosmos would be.

[@kartikeypatel7426]

Well information. Good show. Well show. Good information.

[@ThatGuyRomero]

P.s. .. was super excited to click watch an learn about the water flea...def super cool and interesting about their one compound eye formation from the normal two..reminds me of the flounder, how they start life as normal looking up right babies then as they mature their one eye an parts migrate to one side to become flat 😃