Steven A. Ellis
Kennesaw, GA
At 10:39 AM 12/2/00 -0600, you wrote:
>I had a few minutes to get out of the office yesterday and decided to see
>what interesting critters could be dip netted out of one of the small bays
>on Lake Worth along the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge's southern border.
>Caught a freckled madtom, a number of small sunfish and a bushel of Gambusia
>and glass shrimp. The only unusual capture was a small (quarter-sized)
>razorbacked musk turtle (Sternotherus carinatus). Deciding that the little
>guy would make a good to our turtles on display, I tossed him in the
>collection bucket.
>
>Upon return to the Interpretive Center, I decided to temporarily put the
>little turtle in the 55 that I keep in my office. I use this tank to hold
>fish temporarily, observe new critters, house future foods, and generally
>amuse myself when I should be working. It contains an eclectic group of
>organisms that tends to change with the seasons.
>
>About an hour after I had dropped the turtle into the tank, I noticed a
>flurry of activity and found that a Predacious Diving Beetle (Cybister spp.)
>that has inhabited the tank since the spring was attacking the turtle. The
>beetle, also about the size of a quarter, had latched on to the turtle's
>left rear leg and was violently trying to flip the turtle over onto its
>back. The turtle was stretching its neck as far as possible in an attempt
>to get a hold on the beetle while also using its free legs to flee the area.
>The tenacious beetle, which are also called water tigers, refused to let go
>for several minutes but finally released the turtle and shot up to the
>surface, apparently for air. The turtle, taking advantage of the
>opportunity, made a mad dash for some plant and rock cover. After getting a
>breath of air, the beetle immediately dove and returned to the site of the
>attack. Finding the turtle gone, the beetle went into search mode and began
>quartering the tank bottom just like a bird dog searching for quail. Two
>hours later, the turtle was still in hiding (although he made a couple of
>stealthy trips to the surface for air), the beetle appeared to have given up
>the hunt, and I left for home believing that the battle was over. WRONG!
>
>When I got to work this morning, I found the turtle out in the open, dead.
>The carcass looked like it had been mauled by a pack of wolves. I never
>would have believed that the beetle could have been the culprit if I hadn't
>seen the beginning of the battle yesterday. Has anyone else ever witnessed
>anything like this?
>
>Rob Denkhaus
>Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge
>
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