The Amazing Spider That Lives Under Water (Water Spider)

Watch this video about this amazing phenomenon.

Water spiders live in the water. They don’t have gills but they do have a really neat way of breathing. The spider will spin the web on the water surface and collect air bubbles to fill it from underneath. The spider can then pop up under its web and breathe when it needs to. These spiders also mate and lay their eggs in the ‘air bubble web’.
These spiders can be found around, and often in, lakes, ponds and streams, floating on sticks and leaves.

Water spider are only found in Europe.


Source: http://www.naturegrid.org.uk

The Most Humane Way to Euthanize a Fish

Copyright @GoogleImages

There comes a time in every aquarist's life when a fish that can no longer recover from disease or injury must be euthanized. This is no easy task, but it can be done humanely and peacefully without stress to fish or aquarist. The best method is a two-step process. First, anesthetize the fish with clove oil so that it is sleeping and unable to feel pain; then introduce a clear grain alcohol like vodka to ensure the fish will not wake up.

This method is commonly misrepresented as mixing clove oil and vodka together. That is incorrect. Clove oil must be introduced first, allowing the fish to fall asleep before introducing vodka. Vodka will be stressful for a fish that is not anesthetized.

Clove oil, or eugenol, is available at most drug stores and is sold as a toothache remedy. It has been used for years as a fish anesthetic for surgeries and tagging procedures. Clove oil will put a fish to sleep and ensure it feels no pain. The fish can wake up from this sleep if removed from the clove bath, however. The last step of adding the vodka will ensure the fish expires.

For fish up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) in length, some simple steps can be followed. The fish's owner should add some tank water to a measuring cup or mixing bowl. The amount of tank water added to the cup or bowl should be measured and a note of it made. The fish should then be placed in the container. If the fish is in a clear cup, a dark towel placed around the cup may calm the fish.

The owner should next fill a small, clean jar or bottle with tank water, leaving some room at the top. A baby food jar or pill bottle can work well for this. He should then add 1 drop of clove oil in the jar or bottle, cap it, and shake the jar vigorously. The clove oil should emulsify, turning the water milky white.

About 1/4 of this emulsified mixture should then be poured into the fish's container. The fish will begin listing as it starts to fall asleep. The fish should be allowed to sit for about 10 minutes.

The fish should be resting on the bottom of the tank when it has fallen asleep. It will look dead, but if watched closely, its gills will be breathing once every few seconds. If after 10 minutes the fish is still rising off the bottom and swimming intermittently, the owner should retrieve the jar or bottle of emulsified clove oil, re-shake, and add the same dose to the fish's container. He should wait again for the fish to fall asleep.

Once the fish is asleep on the bottom, 20 to 25% white grain alcohol should be added. For example, if the fish is in 8 oz (240 ml) of water, 2 oz (60 ml) of vodka should be added. The fish should be allowed stay there for at least 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, the fish should be checked carefully for any gill movement. If there is no gill movement over a 60 second period, the fish has expired.

For large fish, the fish should be placed in a bucket or plastic tub with tank water; again, how much tank water is used should be measured. The dose for the mixture in the jar will be 10 drops of clove oil per gallon (3.78 liters). For example, if the fish is placed in 3 gallons (11 liters) of tank water, the jar should be filled with tank water and 10 x 3 = 30 drops of clove oil.

After shaking the jar vigorously, the fish's owner should slowly add the entire mixture to the bucket or tub that contains the fish. It should then be gently mixed in. Once the fish is asleep, the previous instructions for adding 20-25% vodka should be followed.

To eliminate vodka from the procedure and overdose with clove oil alone, the fish should first be put to sleep as stated above, with the owner waiting 10 minutes for the fish to settle on the bottom. A lethal overdose of clove oil is 50 drops per gallon (3.78 liters), or 5x stronger than the initial dose that anesthetizes the fish. Using the same example, if the fish is in 3 gallons (11 liters) of tank water, the jar's lethal mixture will include 50 x 3 = 150 drops of clove oil. It should be administered in the same way, by first shaking the jar before adding the mixture to the fish's container.

Once the entire mixture has been added to the fish's container, the owner should wait a few hours. Finally, he should make sure there is absolutely no gill movement by watching the gills closely for at least 60 straight seconds. If any gill movement is seen, more emulsified clove oil should be added.

Using clove oil alone is not recommended, because even though a fish looks dead it can recover once it has been removed from the bath. Clove oil is a preferred anesthetic precisely because it is hard to overdose a fish with it. Therefore, users should be especially diligent when using clove oil alone, making sure that the fish is really dead. It is much safer to use vodka as the final step.

Unacceptable methods of euthanasia include freezing, chopping, removing the fish from water, or flushing down the toilet. These methods are slow, torturous, stressful, or violent. Clove oil followed by vodka is both inexpensive and humane; the fish goes to sleep and simply doesn't wake up. Hopefully most people will rarely have to perform this task, but when someone does, it's at least comforting to know your fish does not have to suffer.



Source: http://www.wisegeek.com

The Oldest Living Animal Species

Copyright @GoogleImages

The Horseshoe Crab
The oldest living animal species on Earth cannot be known for sure, because not every animal species or fossil has yet been discovered, but the current best guess is the horseshoe crab, which has remained pretty much unchanged since the Ordovician period, 445 million years ago. To put this in perspective, multicellular animals only appear in the fossil record about 600 million years ago, and the typical duration of an animal species is just a few million years. For instance, Tyrannosaurus rex lived for only about three million years. In contrast, the horseshoe crab has existed for about 74% of the time that animals in general have, and was one of the few animals to survive the mass extinction of the Ordovician period.

Due to its status as one of the oldest living animals, the horseshoe crab, which is actually more closely related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions than crabs, has been dubbed a living fossil. Horseshoe crabs are thought to descend from eurypterids, also known as sea scorpions, which are even older, but extinct, living as far back as 510 million years ago. As far as we know, no animals from the Cambrian (542 - 488 million years ago) or Ediacaran (635 - 542 million years ago) periods are alive today, although there are numerous fossils showing they did exist in the past.

The horseshoe crab is notable for its simple but effective immune system. When invaded by a foreign organism, such as bacteria, the blood in the local area of the invasion immediately clots into a gel-like substance. This substance, called limulus amebocyte lysate, has been used in modern medicine to test for the presence of bacteria on a surface, exceeding the capabilities of purely artificial detectors. When bacteria is present, it immediately clots. This excellent immune system has surely contributed to the horseshoe crab becoming the oldest living animal.

Surviving Species of the Ordovician Period 
Along with the horseshoe crab, several other species have survived since the Ordovician period such as brachiopods, bryozoa, and crinoids. All of these organisms live in the water and all have evolved and adapted in order to survive the changes of earth's climates, making them some of the oldest species on earth. Perhaps these water-dwelling species are not as well-known as the horsehoe crab because of their small size and strange appearances; not only are the difficult to spot, but they are not as recognizable to the general population as a type of crab.

Other Ancient Animal Species 

The Coelacanth *Google Images

There have been groups of bacteria, such as cyanobacteria, that have been around for not only hundreds of millions of years, but actually several billion — far exceeding the age of the oldest living animal — but bacteria are not animals. The oldest living plant is thought to be gingko biloba, with fossils found dated around 270 million years ago. The long duration of this plant species is thought to be due to a combination of insect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts. A fish, the coelacanth, is a runner-up for the oldest living animal, appearing in the fossil record about 410 million years ago.



Source: http://www.wisegeek.com

Why Mosquitoes Bite Some People More Than Others

Mosquito Biting Human *Google Images

 Scientific research has shown that if you are frequently bitten by mosquitoes, it is because of the smell you give off. Mosquitoes are attracted to particular odors that certain people have. If a person is rarely bitten, then his or her body gives off a smell that masks the scent that attracts mosquitoes.

The body's masking odors act like a natural repellent to mosquitoes. People who are bitten less frequently, or not at all, emit chemicals that repel mosquitoes. Mosquitoes recognize these smells as something they would not like to feast on and fly to someone else. Recent research has been undertaken to narrow down the smells that are attractive and repellent to mosquitoes. The research was at first described as similar to looking for a needle in a haystack, but scientists have since managed to track down and identify around 30 chemical compounds out of 300 that can protect people.

The mosquito bite repellents currently available on the market work on much the same principle. They mask the attractive body odor that mosquitoes like. Some mosquito bite repellents are plant-based in odor, causing the mosquito to sense that the wearer is a plant and look elsewhere for its food.

The importance of the tests to find a masking order goes beyond solving irritating little mosquito bites. A mosquito bite is not just annoying; it can present a real danger to humans. Mosquitoes carry dangerous diseases, such as malaria. Malaria is the cause of millions of deaths every year and a significant problem in many African countries.

After determining the masking odor that deters mosquitoes, the next step is to duplicate it. If this is possible, then further tests will make sure it is safe to be applied to human skin. If this is successful, then a whole new type of mosquito bite repellent will be available. These repellents should be safer and more natural than previous repellents, as they will be based on the skin's natural masking agents.

Another way to avoid a mosquito bite may be to stay close to friends who are never bitten. Until the new mosquito bite repellent is available, this might be the safest option.




Source: http://www.wisegeek.com