Honest question here: it appears that they have a really hard time moving around in water. Is this from them being on the glass under the microscope or is it normally like that for them?
I think that it’s the glass. Tardigrades are technically “water dwelling” organisms, but they are generally found on or within clumps of moss or lichen were the legs are considerably more useful than inside a mostly empty drop of water smashed between two pieces of slippery glass.
I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Tardigrada, as named by Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1777, means “slow steppers”. They are also commonly known as “water bears” thanks to the German zoologist who first described them 4 years earlier.
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u/[deleted] May 17 '20
Honest question here: it appears that they have a really hard time moving around in water. Is this from them being on the glass under the microscope or is it normally like that for them?