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Swimming red dots - some sort of bug, just not sure what.


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#1 Betta132

Betta132
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  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 06 May 2015 - 12:02 AM

I recently found some little buggies in a vegetation-heavy lake. I couldn't get a picture that looked like anything more than a little red dot. They were probably a millimeter across, fire-engine red, and swam fairly quickly (though not very straight). Upon closer inspection, they had about 6 little legs, all near one end. They looked almost like really agile ticks without the icky head/mouth part, but they were definitely aquatic, and I found them in multiple spots. 

I know this isn't a bug forum, but Google has been unhelpful, and I figure there has to be somebody on here who knows what these rather distinctive bugs are.



#2 Kanus

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 05:54 AM

Aquatic mites. I often have little olive colored ones show up in my plant tubs or stillwater tanks, but I see plenty of the red ones too when I'm out in the field.

Derek Wheaton

On a mountain overlooking the North Fork Roanoke River on one side, the New River Valley on the other, and a few minutes away from the James River watershed...the good life...

Enchanting Ectotherms

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#3 Sean Phillips

Sean Phillips
  • NANFA Member
  • Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 06 May 2015 - 06:04 AM

I've been wondering what these things are as well, they're all over the place in my quarry.
Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#4 gerald

gerald
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  • Wake Forest, North Carolina

Posted 06 May 2015 - 08:33 AM

BTW aquatic mites are not blood-suckers.  Some are predatory on other micro-inverts and some are scavengers.


Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel


#5 Kanus

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 09:23 AM

Yes, I have noticed that in a tank with lots of mites that any plant leaf with a blemish quickly can be eaten down to a nub. Seems as though they cannot get theough the plant tissue themselves, but any damage and they won't leave (ha) it alone.

Derek Wheaton

On a mountain overlooking the North Fork Roanoke River on one side, the New River Valley on the other, and a few minutes away from the James River watershed...the good life...

Enchanting Ectotherms

My Personal Facebook (mostly fish related, if you'd like to add me)


#6 Betta132

Betta132
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  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 06 May 2015 - 01:51 PM

Ah, that makes sense. They looked like spider mites to me, but spider mites are land critters.

Question: would it be a bad plan to introduce a bunch of the red ones into a sunfish tank? I know they aren't too likely to survive,but I like the look of them, and it would be cool if I could get a colony established.



#7 gerald

gerald
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  • Wake Forest, North Carolina

Posted 07 May 2015 - 10:01 AM

They're probably too small to attract the sunnies' attention, and might be good scavengers.  Try it. 

Not sure if the mites might feed on fish eggs, if you're trying to breed the fish.


Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel


#8 Betta132

Betta132
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  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 12 May 2015 - 02:11 PM

I'll pick some up next time I go to that lake. They swim along the edge of the lake and should be pretty easy to catch. 

Do you suppose some sort of food would get a big swarm of them to come over? Maybe a bit of dead fish? Perhaps I could set a few bottle traps out and pick them up after a few hours, though I guess I'd have to find a way to keep the minnows out.

 

I don't really want to breed the sunnies right now. I don't have space for a bunch of baby sunfish, cute as they are, and I'm not sure about the legality of transporting lots of baby sunfish to someone who could raise them. I'd be alright with the mites eating any eggs that are laid, it seems like a humane way to keep me from ending up with a couple hundred babies. 


Edited by Betta132, 12 May 2015 - 02:12 PM.





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