UTEP Study: Zooplankton Go “Eew!” to Cleaning Faeces Contaminated Water (IMAGE)

University of Texas at El Paso

UTEP Study: Zooplankton Go “Eew!” to Cleaning Faeces Contaminated Water

Caption

Scientists were recently surprised to find that the natural community of zooplankton — tiny, aquatic animals known to graze on bacteria — present in freshwater and saltwater do not clean water that is contaminated with fecal microorganisms. Pictured: One of the zooplankton found in the water samples is the adult copepod, a miniature crustacean that is about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. 

Credit

Credit: Lauren Kennedy / UTEP

Usage Restrictions

Credit must be given to the creator. Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.

License

CC BY-NC

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.