Dear visitor,
The initial idea for this website came up when we wanted to document the ecological work of our highschool which is located in the southern part of the Ruhr-district in Germany, thereby creating an online catalogue of the species occuring in the surroundings of our school. The focus was on the microscopical life in aquatic freshwater environments, i.e. a small pond that has been surveyed for more than 10 years before it was replaced by a new pond. A nearby brook complements the biodiversity with species typical for lotic waters.
The first update followed when the biological (marine and terrestrial) results of our excursions to the mediterranean sea were added.
If one tries to identify microscopical organisms it soon becomes evident that certain species can only be unequivocally identified by comparing them with other closely related species from other habitats. Therefore the online catalog now covers species collected and studied from other locations, first within Germany. One emphasis is now on rotifers. So discoveries from locations of adjoining European countries are included as well. About 400 species of rotifers are documented up to now.
Also the section of the marine species has undergone an update by adding images of species from several diving excursions in tropical sea areas.
Michael Plewka
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Some rotifers found in the liverwort Frullania dilatata |
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Habrotrocha reclusa |
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Habrotrocha reclusa is one of the bdelloid rotifer species that occurs in the hyaline cells of the peat moss Sphagnum. |
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Paraquadrula irregularis |
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The beautiful rhizopod Paraquadrula irregularis has been found in a moss sample from the Old Man of Storr/ Skye/ Scotland. |
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Ceratotrocha cornigera |
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This strange looking bdelloid rotifer has been found in Witten, Germany. |
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Some rotifers from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) |
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Some organisms from Bodman & Simmelried / Germany |
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Some new rotifers & additions |
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Some organisms from a salt spring |
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Some new rotifers & additions |
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Some rotifers from the Phillipines |
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Anilao in the Batangas area of Luzon/ Philippines is one of the most rewarding dive locations in the world for underwater macro photographers. But this is not all. A moss sample collected in Club Ocellaris revealed some interesting bdelloid rotifers, among others a new form of Adineta. |
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Some monogonont rotifers |
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Updated |
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Abrochtha intermedia from an ephemeral puddle in Germany |
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Abrochtha intermedia has been found in an ephemeral puddle in Hagen/ Germany. Although this species is supposed to be cosmopolitan this may be the first discovery of A. intermedia in Germany. |
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Updated information for some rotifers, desmids and protists. |
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Updated information for some rotifers, desmids and protists. |
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Updated information for some rotifers and protists |
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Four new rotifers & some protist images added |
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Some Microinvertebrates from Svalbard |
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Some interesting species from the Simmelried near Konstanz, Germany |
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Two rotifers from Czech Republic |
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Notommata pachyura |
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On the feeding of Collotheca pelagica |
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Beauchampiella eudactylota |
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Tetrasiphon hydrocora |
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Kellicottia bostoniensis |
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Enteroplea lacustris |
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Wahner Heide/ Cologne/ Germany: a great place for rare critters |
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Three years ago the rare rotifer Ptygura rotifer (Pseudoecistes rotifer) had been rediscovered in the Wahner Heide near Cologne. Now the newly described bdelloid rotifer Otostephanos jolantae has been found there. This is probably the first record for Germany. The monogonont Trichocerca cavia could be documented for this location as well. |
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Macrotrachela zickendrahti |
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Macrotrachela zickendrahti has been found in a nature reserve Oberrasen/ South Tirol. This rotifer looks pretty weird with its bizarre spines. |
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New images for Macrotrachela habita |
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Macrotrachela habita has been found in a moor-area near the Steinhuder Meer in Lower Saxony/ Germany |
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Resticula plicata from Bavaria |
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Resticula plicata has been found in the nature reserve Kendlmuehlfilze in Bavaria/ Germany |
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Some algae images added |
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Some new desmids and chlorophyte alge from the Alps and other locations have been added to this site, among others: Cosmarium holmiense, C. subundulatum, C. venustum, Cylindrocystis crassa, Desmidium grevillei, Hyalotheca mucosa, Euastrum ampullaceum, Euastrum crassum, Tetrallantois lagerheimi, Westella botryoides, Xanthidium bifidum. |
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The eversion of the daughter coenobia of Volvox could be observed. |
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Some rotifers from South Tirol |
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A new pond-new rotifers |
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Rotaria socialis |
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Aspidiophorus silvaticus - a strange gastrotrich |
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The hairyback (gastrotrich) Aspidiophorus silvaticus has been found in a forest near Hattingen. Its habitus is quite unusual for a gastrotrich and resembles that of the rotifer Bryceella. |
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Macrotrachela tuberilabris |
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Scepanotrocha simplex |
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Asplanchna sieboldi var. cruciformis etc. |
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Some rotifers from Tirol, Austria |
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Proales minima from Bavaria |
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Some new images of Notommata tripus |
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Some rotifers from Brittany, France |
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Revision of the genus Synchaeta |
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Correction of species names; addition of new images, new species added: Synchaeta longipes |
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Sinantherina socialis |
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Habrorocha novemdens |
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Dorystoma caudata |
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Notommata pseudocerberus |
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Trichocerca bidens |
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Otostephanos donneri |
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Tetraedriella limbata from Bavarian pond |
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mysterious rotifers |
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Observing rotifers for more than 15 years sometimes leads to finding some specimens that are not described in the literature (as far as this literature is available through libraries) or sources from the www. Here are some of them. |
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Cephalodella ventripes |
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4 Rotifers from Sweden |
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New images for Notholca squamula and Notommata cyrtopus |
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Philodina acuticornis odiosa |
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two rotifers from Mexico |
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Macrotrachela habita |
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Sulawesi dive trip |
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In November 2013 we had a pleasant stay in the Mapia Resort near manado, the Onong Resort in Siladen and the Lembeh Resort located at the famous Lembeh Strait. Not only has the hospitality in all resorts been overwhelming, but also the knowledge and commitment of the dive guides is fabulous. Here are some images: |
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Proales laticauda |
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