Behavior and Senses of Triops

Triops are also called as Tadpole shrimps as they resemble the larva of the frogs. They are small crustaceans and look like miniature horseshoe crabs. Let us find out the behavior and senses of these tadpole shrimps.

Triops are the water animals. They can swim non-stop like fish, and move in wave like motions of appendages. They can swim in any direction, right, left, up and down. They use their trunk appendages to move forward and to swim freely in the water. The waves that are created during their movement starts at the rear of the animal and is moved towards the front. However, the carapace of the body does not help in the movement and is not flexible like the rest of the body. They also can creep over the bottom and burrow in sand. They burrow in sand for the sediments of food. When they bulldoze into the sand they use their carapace against the grains and move forward using the push of the trunk appendages.

Triops are good with their smelling senses. When they move or swim past a lump of the food, it will turn towards it because they can detect chemicals from food pellets in the water. It turns back and grabs the food with the help of its trunk appendages. These trunk appendages in turn will help the movement of the food towards the mouth. The bristles on the front trunk appendages help to filter the food from the sand, gravel and water. These bristles are very minute and will not be visible even to the hand lens. When the food reaches the mouth, the mouth parts are visible and you can see them moving and chewing the food.

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