An absolutely gorgeous vernal pool, full of so much life.
Caddisfly larva casing, and you can see the caddisfly larva itself sticking out in the lower left.

So many tadpoles!




Looks like Simocephalus in Cladocera:

Daphnia? It’s not a great photo, not easy to be sure.

Ostracod:


And here’s the same individual — I think it’s using its antenna for filter feeding

I don’t know what this egg-like thing was. Of course, it wasn’t glowing, but it seemed it was very reflective when I shined the light on it.

“Flatworm, probably Rhabdocoela”
From Wikipedia:
Rhabdocoela is an order of flatworms in the class Rhabditophora with about 1700 species described worldwide. The order was first described in 1831 by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg.[1] Most of rhabdocoels are free-living organisms, but some live symbiotically with other animals.[2]
…
Most rhabdocoels are freshwater organisms. Some groups, such as typhloplanids, are predators, the main prey being cladocerans.[6] Others feed on algae and may incorporate them in their tissues.[7]
The temnocephalidans all live as ectosymbionts or parasites of other freshwater animals, such as arthropods, mollusks, and turtles.[8]
…
In several members of the order Rhabdocoela an endosymbiotic relationship with microalgae has evolved. Some species in the same order has also evolved kleptoplasty.[42]

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