The fauna of water bodies in its habitat is divided into two main groups. The first is zooplankton, and the second is benthos. Zooplankton lives directly in the water column, and benthos inhabits the bottom of the reservoir. Separate groups form organisms that live on certain objects, underwater plants, as well as fish. So, plants and animals of water bodies - what are they?
Plants
They populated the entire aquatic environment. In lakes and streams, in ponds and canals, the most diverse representatives of the flora world grow and multiply. Over millions of years of their evolution, they have perfectly adapted to the living conditions in water bodies. Some of them are completely immersed in water, while others grow above its surface. Some of them generally live on the border between water, land and air. Let's talk about the most famous of them.
Calamus marsh
It forms large thickets in shallow water. Its leaves are powerful and have a xiphoid shape. Reach lengths of up to 1.5 meters. The calamus of the marsh has a long rhizome, covered with traces of dead leaves. These rhizomes are a well-known cure for certain diseases. Use it in cooking (spices), and in cosmetics.
Bulrush
This plant focuses on swampy shores. Its rhizome is creeping and has a hollow interior. The thick stem of a cylindrical shape rises to a height of 2 meters. It is crowned with characteristic spikelets of brown color, collected in a whisk. Short and hard leaves are located at the bottom of the reed stem. Thickets of this plant are sometimes impassable wall surround the reservoir, providing its inhabitants with a reliable shelter.
Water lily
This plant is rarely seen in running waters. It mainly grows in swamps, ponds, in backwaters and elders. Its powerful rhizome has strong accessory roots, and oval leaves sitting on long petioles float on the water. One of the most beautiful water plants is considered to be a snow-white water lily. It is devoted to her many poetic works and legends.
Own ecosystem
As you know, the living conditions in reservoirs of various types are also different. That is why the species composition of animals living in flowing waters differs significantly from the animal world, which settled exclusively in still water. In the framework of this article, we, of course, will not be able to describe the diversity of this fauna, however, we note the main groups of animals that inhabit such reservoirs.
Zooplankton
These are the most popular animals living in water bodies. The term "zooplankton" is usually called the simplest microorganisms: ciliates, amoeba, flagellates, and roots. They serve as food for fry and other small aquatic animals. These organisms are quite small in size, they can not be seen with the human eye, because this requires a microscope. Consider them as an amoeba.
Common amoeba
This creature is known to every person who has reached school age. Amoebas are animals of water bodies (photo in the article), which are convinced single-celled loners. You can find these creatures almost everywhere where there is water and particles suitable for food: bacteria, small relatives, dead organics.
Amoebas, or rhizopods, are not picky creatures. They live in lakes and seas, crawl along aquatic plants. Sometimes they settle in the intestines of vertebrates. Amoebas also have their overseas relatives. These are the so-called foraminifera. They inhabit exclusively seawater.
Branchy crustaceans
Zooplankton of stagnant waters is represented mainly by the so-called branched crustaceans. These creatures look as follows. Their shortened body is enclosed in a shell consisting of two wings. Their head is covered with a shell on top, to which two pairs of special antennae are attached. The posterior antennae of these crustaceans are well developed and play the role of fins.
Each such antennae is divided into two branches with dense cirrus bristles. They serve to increase the surface of the swimming organs. On their body under the carapace there are up to 6 pairs of swimming legs. Branched crustaceans are typical animals of water bodies, their sizes do not exceed 5 millimeters. These creatures are an indispensable part of the reservoir ecosystem, because they are food for young fish. So, let's move on to the fish.
Pike
Pike and its preys (the fish it eats) are freshwater animals. This is a typical predator, widespread in our country. Like other organisms, pikes at different stages of their development eat differently. Their fry, just hatched from eggs, live directly in shallow water, in shallow coves. It is these waters that are rich in their ecosystem.
Here pike fry begin to feed heavily on the very same crustaceans and simple microorganisms that we talked about above. Within two weeks, the fry pass to the larvae of insects, leeches and worms. Plants and animals of water bodies of our country in different regions are different. We say this to the fact that not so long ago, ichthyologists discovered an interesting feature: the pups living in central Russia have already preferred young perch and roach from the age of two months.
Since that time, the diet of young pike begins to expand markedly. She eats tadpoles, frogs, large fish (sometimes twice as large as herself!) And even small birds with pleasure. Sometimes pikes engage in cannibalism: they eat their brethren. It is worth noting that fish and zooplankton are not the only animals living in water bodies. Consider their other inhabitants.
Silver spider
Its second name is the water spider. This arachnid creature is widespread throughout Europe, distinguished from its congeners by swimming setae on its hind legs and three claws on them. He earned his name due to the fact that his abdomen under water glows with a silver light. The spider does not sink thanks to a special water-repellent substance. You can meet him in stagnant or slowly flowing waters.
The silver spider feeds on a variety of small animals that get entangled in the threads of its underwater cobweb. Sometimes he catches his prey. If his catch turned out to be larger than usual, he carefully manages the excess in his underwater nest. By the way, a spider makes its nest by attaching threads to underwater objects. It is open down, a water spider fills it with air, turning it into a so-called diving bell.
Common pond
Animals that live in water bodies are largely known to us thanks to the school textbook of zoology. So an ordinary pond is no exception. These large snails belong to the pulmonary mollusks. They live throughout Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. The largest pond species live in Russia. The size of this snail is variable, since it completely depends on certain living conditions.
His "house" is a solid sink with a single hole at the bottom. As a rule, it is spirally spun 5-7 turns and expands downward. Inside the shell is a fleshy mucous body. From time to time it protrudes outward, forming a head from above and a wide and flat foot from below. With the help of this leg, the pond slides over plants and underwater objects, as if on a ski.
It was not in vain that we noted that ordinary ponds belong to the pulmonary mollusks. The fact is that these freshwater animals breathe atmospheric air, just like you and me. Pondoviks with their "legs" stick to the underside of the water diaper, open their breathing hole, gaining air. No, they don’t have lungs, they have a so-called pulmonary cavity under the skin. It is in it that the accumulated air is stored and consumed.
Frogs and toads
Animals of water bodies are not limited only to microorganisms, snails and other small invertebrate creatures. Along with fish in lakes and ponds, you can see amphibians - frogs and toads. Their tadpoles swim almost all summer in fresh water bodies. In the spring, amphibians organize "concerts": they use their resonator bags to bawl around the whole neighborhood, laying eggs in the water.
Reptiles
If we talk about which animals of the water bodies belong to reptiles, then, undoubtedly, an ordinary snake can be noted here. His whole lifestyle is directly related to the search for food. He hunts frogs. For humans, these snakes do not pose any harm. Unfortunately, many uninformed people kill snakes, mistaking them for poisonous snakes. Because of this, the number of these animals is markedly reduced. Another aquatic reptile is, for example, the red-eared turtle. It is it that lovers-naturalists contain in terrariums.
Birds
Plants and animals of water bodies are largely interconnected with each other, because the former protect the latter! This is especially pronounced in the case of birds. The attraction of birds to water bodies is largely due to the high nutrition of these places, as well as excellent protective conditions (reeds and sedge make birds invisible). The bulk of these animals is based on anseriformes (geese, ducks, swans), passerines, copepods, grebe-like, stork-like and charadriiformes.
