The Balsa de Pinar in Spain had been bone dry for around 3 years but in July 2015 the Balsa was back. I did some larval work and with a few sweeps of the net this beast (see top of page) appeared in my net. I thought I had been transported to Florida and caught a small horseshoe crab; indeed, it took me a while to sort it out.
It is called Triops cancriformis (The Tadpole Shrimp) and is part of a very primitive order of animals called the Euphyllopoda, which are some of the most ancient animals on the planet. The order contains Fairy Shrimps and other life forms that can survive for decades as eggs just waiting for new water just like happened in the Balsa.
It is called Triops cancriformis (The Tadpole Shrimp) and is part of a very primitive order of animals called the Euphyllopoda, which are some of the most ancient animals on the planet. The order contains Fairy Shrimps and other life forms that can survive for decades as eggs just waiting for new water just like happened in the Balsa.
I was hooked; I wanted to know more about these strange creatures. I found two papers which have absorbed me The first was Alonso 1985 which was a survey of the Spanish Euphyllopoda and the second was a reference in Alonso. A catalogue of ponds in Spain. Why would anyone bother to write such a thing. According to the introduction it was intended to encourage the science of limnology. It was written in 1945 when the rest of Europe had other things on its mind.
I have spent a lot of time recently in the Province of Almeria . Were there any Lagos in the Catalogo in Almeria? Well there are four:
We had better luck with the Lagunilla Seca (picture above) found by driving along a rough track to 2,200 m on the ridge of the Sierra Nevada. It was quite dry in September but must fill with snow melt every year. A return sometime is obligatory.
- Lagunilla Seca
- Laguna de Somontin
- Laguna de Adra
- Laguna de la Albojaira
We had better luck with the Lagunilla Seca (picture above) found by driving along a rough track to 2,200 m on the ridge of the Sierra Nevada. It was quite dry in September but must fill with snow melt every year. A return sometime is obligatory.
This left two Lagunas. We tried to find the Laguna de Somontin but failed miserably although we did find some tanks and other ponds with good populations of Sympetrum sinaiticum (pictured) nearby we found fig trees laden with fruit which provided an excellent breakfast for the next day but this day we landed up in Seron and had a superb lunch - but no Laguna.
Having failed with the Laguna de Somontin I started to research the Laguna de la Albojaira. If you put this title into your search engine you will find the Spanish Red Data Book for Lestes macrostigma. I am addicted to Lestids and I quickly realised that this Laguna was the only site where this species has been recorded in Almeria. I was obsessed with finding this site - but where exactly was it. It had been visited in 1917 by an entomologist called Vidal and I am not sure whether anyone has been there since. To cut a very long story short and thanks to Martin Stokes of the University of Plymouth I have tracked it down and even managed to obtain a photo taken by Martin.
You can see from the picture above how the building of a new embalse on the river starved the adjacent valley of any water thus leading to the extinction of this Laguna.
You can see from the picture above how the building of a new embalse on the river starved the adjacent valley of any water thus leading to the extinction of this Laguna.
I may have failed with two lagunas but I did find some more Euphyllopoda in the Sierra de los Fiabres. Heading home down the Sierra north of Gergal, we came across this quite exposed pond. No dragonflies; but it was teeming with what I think is a species called Branchipus schaefferi