The pools, puddles and temporary ponds left behind by 2022’s summer rains are receding daily, only to be momentarily refreshed by the next afternoon’s scattered showers.
The fleeting surface water is already home to little creatures, and not just mosquitoes.
Fairy shrimp are making appearances across panhandle Florida in places not normally associated with any species of shrimp.
There are three known varieties in Florida, and depending on a variety of factors, any could be seen during the warm and wet season. In addition to wild settings, these little creatures may appear in parking lots, patios or any other place that will hold water for a few days.
These freshwater invertebrates are classified as crustaceans and are related to the pink shrimp which are a popular dining option. This species has a long and ancient lineage.
Tiny fairy shrimp can show up in the most unexpected of places. These tiny crustaceans may appear in patios or parking lots during the rainy season
The fossil records indicate the earliest Fairy Shrimp lived in the Cambrian Epoch, about 500 million years ago. Long before the dinosaurs, all animal life during this period was aquatic and included the better-known trilobites.
As earth’s geology changed, they may have been forced to adapt to life in temporary pools and hyper-saline lakes. They were easy prey and a ready source of food for the long extinct bony fishes of the early oceans and freshwater lakes.
Today there are 300 species spread across eight “Anostraca families” worldwide, and they come in a rainbow’s variety of colors. They can be found in desert pools, ice-covered mountain lakes and even in the Antarctic.
They all, including the ones in north Florida, swim upside-down while feeding on organic particles from the water or scraping algae from surfaces. Their length will easily fit inside a quarter.
These short-lived creatures appear when the environmental conditions are just right for their quick hatching and reproductive process. Some varieties are reported to lay eggs the first day after they hatch.
The eggs are moved to new locations several ways. Draining water will take the eggs downstream, some to a hospitable site where they will one day hatch. Others are relocated by birds and animals which accidently pick up the eggs and drop them at a new site.
When the temporary ponds, pools and puddles evaporate, the Fairy Shrimp eggs will lay dormant in the soil for years, decades, possibly even a century, before the next hatch.
There they will wait until the next time environmental conditions are correct for their reappearance, next year or next century. A good shelf life for shrimp left in the open.
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