If you live in a somewhat wooded or heavily grassed area, look for
depressions which could form temporary ponds. (Or maybe even puddles off of
livestock areas - funky but lots of organics for food).
Even areas near dumps have been used. Daphnia are sensitive enough to
several toxins that - knock on wood -they probably wouldn't be found in
really nasty water. Haven't seen them in the local automobile bone yard.
Over the next two days - mad dogs and Englishmen time - (and probably later
this summer) has the heat goes up, oxygen starved daphnia may come to the
surface even in the sun (predator avoidance not-with-standing). Shortly
there after that pond culture may crash until cooler weather.
Maybe pack a little ice in your holding container. Don't let the sun at your
collection - just like sampling fish. :)
I skimmed my surface dwellers off yesterday exactly so the cultures
wouldn't crash.
Aquarium literature from 70 or so years ago often warned of the dangers of
wild collected daphnia. Mostly they may have been asking aquarists to on the
look out for predatory insects and hydra.
There are others on this list who can address this far better - but waters
with fish in them might also have daphnia as secondary parasite hosts. It is
conventional wisdom to collect wild cultures from waters without fish if
possible. As Lee mentioned, population densities are likely to be much
greater anyway.
All the best!
Scott
> I have only found daphnia in temporary rainwater ponds that do not contain
fish. In ponds or lakes with fish I can collect copepods by stirring around
in the vegetation with a fine aquarium net -- no daphnia seen and not many
copepods in the one lake that I am most familiar with.
>
> Lee Harper
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