Tadpole Shrimp Are Coming For Your Rice | Deep Look
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Published 2021-10-12
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Each spring, hungry hordes of tadpole shrimp find their way into the rice fields of California’s Central Valley and go to town munching on the young seedlings.
Tadpole shrimp aren’t really tadpoles or shrimp, but they are crustaceans whose ancestors once lived in the sea.
“They look like tiny horseshoe crabs,” says Ian Grettenberger, an integrative pest management researcher at UC Davis.
“It’s obvious when rice fields have lots of tadpole shrimp in them, because they stir up the mud making the water look a bit like chocolate milk. There will also be shrimp zooming around, many upside down at the surface, popping up for a few seconds before disappearing back into the murkiness."
So how did crustaceans, whose ancestors lived in the sea, end up in these freshwater rice paddies?
Turns out, they’ve been waiting in the dry soil. Tadpole shrimp eggs can survive being dried out for months, years, even decades. When the water returns, they’re ready to hatch.
--- What do tadpole shrimp eat?
Tadpole shrimp aren’t picky eaters. They eat algae, floating debris, and whatever plants and insects they are big enough to eat. In California, tadpole shrimp are especially fond of young rice seedlings, which makes them an agricultural pest.
--- How do tadpole shrimp eggs survive getting dried out?
Tadpole shrimp evolved to live in temporary freshwater ponds, created by seasonal rains. Many of those pools dry up completely each year. Adult tadpole shrimp can’t survive drying out, but their eggs have a rugged outer layer called a chorion that protects the eggs from desiccation.
--- Can you raise tadpole shrimp at home?
Much like brine shrimp, also called sea monkeys, you can buy tadpole shrimp eggs, which will hatch when put in water.
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#triops #tadpoleshrimp #deeplook
All Comments (21)
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"This tadpole shrimp is coming for your rice." Me: "My goodness. How do we stop this monster?" "They even eat larvae of mosquitos" Me: "Give them a lifetime supply of rice and a Nobel Peace Prize."
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Fun fact. Farmers in Japan actually introduced Triops cancriformes into rice fields to get rid of mosquitoes and help ensure the rice is healthy
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Some of the best triops footage I've ever seen. Truly an underrated animal.
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reminds me of those little kits what you buy at scholastic book fairs and end up never hatching them
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These are my most favorite animals in the whole world. You can order eggs for like 10$ and they'll eat any vegetable. Most people just feed them parboiled carrots. You just add water to the eggs, and you don't even need a big aquarium for em, I've raised them in a literal fish bowl before. No heater, no filter. Absolutely give a go at hatching them, it's such a fun experience.
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Can we just admire how Deep Look really goes in-depth not only with facts but with their video shots as well???
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I remember triops and I loved them so much.
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Didn't knew about it's existence, fascinating to know it lived even before the dinosaurs and still rocking, thank you deep look subscribed. ❤️
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Practically look like fossils come to life. Cute little guys.
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"This tadpole shrimp is coming for your rice" Sweats in Filipino
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I found this channel a few years ago before I was even old enough for YouTube TOS on my old Nintendo Switch account. When I sadly lost that account I also forgot about this channel. Now that I'm back on YouTube on this newer account and I happened to be watching PBS Digital Studios and I saw this channel and even though I didn't know this channel was a PBS Digital Studios channel I'm happy I found it again. Also I heard about these emerging recently they're really cool especially the third eye which I have no idea why it evolved.
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Tadpole shrimp: we have come for your rice.
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The eyes of a tadpole shrimp give me the "don't talk to me, i angry" vibes
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Kind of strange to think that they can spend years dormant in their eggs, only to hatch and live for just 20 to 90 days.
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Fun fact: the first speicies' of tadpole shrimp lived over 200 million years ago, and that could easily prove how hardy they are
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their cuteness is the reason why I'm willing to give up my rice. 🥺
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As a Japanese person who loves rice (I can practically live on just onigiri 🍙) but hates mosquitoes, I’m super conflicted about these guys
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why do we like naming things something they aren't. "its not a tadpole" Yeah because its a shrimp "its not even a shrimp" wth!
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The story narrative makes the information so easy to digest
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“Tadpole shrimp are coming for your rice” sounds like something that should be made into a meme.
