Here is your vernal pool fact of the day. One of the vernal pool indicator species is a tiny crustacean called the fairy shrimp. Remember Sea Monkeys? Those are actually brine shrimp which are very similar to fairy shrimp. I love to shine my flashlight in the water and see these little critters swim into the light. They swim on their backs with their tiny legs waving to propel them. They are ONLY found in vernal pools because their eggs must go through a drying spell. They deposit their eggs and die before the salamander larvae hatch. Salamander larvae would gobble them up. When the pool dries, the eggs remain in the leaf litter until the pool fills again this time of the year. #vernalpools #natureclub #fairyshrimp

Posted by Mel Grosvenor at 2021-03-10 13:41:10 UTC