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Re: Funny little green things.
Hello Dave:
> Here is one that is stumping me. The surface of my water has maybe 300
> TINY green dots on it. The dots are about the size of a period on your
> screen (about 300u around, or 500x300u oval). Under a 30x glass, they
> appear to be gelatinous capsules containing yet tinier green spheres (maybe
> 50 in one capsule). They float on the surface in clumps of 2-8 globules,
> looking like a micro version of duckweed. No roots that I could see.
> Does anyone have any idea what they are and what might eat them? I sure
> would like to get rid of them. Dave
What you've got is a colonial algae called Volvox. The little spheres
inside the capsules are called Daughter Colonies. The main colony
bursts to release the daughter colonies. You don't really need to
worry about them, but their presence could indicate that you've got
an impending algae explosion on your hands.
___________________________________________________
Jacques Gerber
Botany Department
Rhodes University
Grahamstown
6140
South Africa
Dept Tel#: 046 6038596
Dept Fax#: 046 6225524
Home Tel#: 046 6225000
___________________________________________________