YOU WON'T SEE ME - GIANT WATER FLEA

The amost invisible invertebrate that swims undetected until it attacks with six bristling limbs

- Nick Baker’s

ON the surface of the water is a single Cyclopean eye. Close by, an unsuspecting water flea bounces along until, in an interlocking of multiple limbs, it is trapped then held as the owner of the eye slowly plucks it to pieces. Meet the giant water flea (Leptodora kindtii), the largest water flea in the UK and a stealthy, raptorial carnivore.

Water fleas are a fascinating group of aquatic crustaceans – mostly small, filter-feeding and planktonic – that make up a large component of many freshwater habitats. They bob around and graze on microscopic plant plankton, effectively turning those green sunlight-converters into animal protein that percolates its way up the food chain. In short, if it wasn’t for water fleas then we wouldn’t have newts, fish or dragonflies.

However, a few oddballs stand out from this swarming crowd and the giant water flea, the largest freshwater planktonic invertebrate, is one. Next to their water flea cousins, which grow to 4-5mm at best,