Worms or some sort of fungus on lines that is photo sensitive?

I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this but I figured I would ask. Anyone good with fresh water biology in 39f/4c water?

I've been doing a lot of diving in an old marble quarry in Vermont (It's been posted on here before..It's called Esperanza / True Blue quarry). It's an old flooded marble mine that has some "cave" passages with guidelines setup.

The last couple trips up there me and another friend have noticed some sort of organism or fungus present on the lines well outside the light zone. It looks like almost fuzz on the lines. So far I've only seen them on one section of the line. When you shine your primary onto them they immediately retract back into the line. They look like purple dots. I tried getting a picture this week but couldn't focus well enough in macro without shining light on them before they disappeared.

This is a really bad picture but gives you sort of an idea of what it looks like. It's dark purple in appearance (at least when I shine my primary on it)

http://imgur.com/pmouiFT

Any ideas? I may try taking a sample of them next week.

Never heard of that but sounds really cool

Try again. Would love to see. Sounds neat

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Be careful there. They used lead and arsenic in the mining process years and years ago. We found an "underwater river" in the deep section that probably was loaded with heavy metals.


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Originally Posted by DogDiver

Be careful there. They used lead and arsenic in the mining process years and years ago. We found an "underwater river" in the deep section that probably was loaded with heavy metals.

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Have seen something similar up there I think. There is definitely some "interesting" stuff in the water up there.

Nematodes? They come in all sizes, passive to predatory to parasitic. Maybe not light sensitive, but motion, water movement, alerted them. Find an aquatic nematode professor at local college and take her a snippet of the line for a closer look. Possible new species.

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I actually spotted these first on the dive with macado. I had a hard time figuring out appropriate hand signals for "come look at the tiny worms that retract into the line as soon as you shine your light on them."

Nematodes are an interesting idea! These little things were definitely photosensitive, since we could look at them ok with very dim light from the edge of our primaries, but they retracted as soon as the light got brighter. I was able to find a reference that some species of nematodes are photosensitive. Definitely worth more investigation.

They're mainly of interest as the only life we've spotted in the system.

Yeah. Confuted spoted them first. Of course I had no idea what he was trying to signal because every time he shined his light on the line they retracted back into it.

I think I will try to collect a sample next time I am up there. It's more out of curiosity than anything at this point

Reviving this thread. I was finally able to get a sample of whatever these worms or fungus are.. I have a contact with specialty in marine inveterbrates so hopefully they can help me identify what we're looking at, if only out of curiosity..

Took another video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtE_AbNknus I need better video lights.
Max depth: 95fsw Water temp: 39f (4c). Visibility: 30-40ft

I saw something in a mine in Missouri that reminded me of this thread. I could see them (tiny worms? White body with a purplish tip) moving freely in the water column around me. They would completely freeze when they entered my lights then start moving again when the beam was off them... kinda freaky

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We've got a few nuclear waste dumps near the Niagara River. Never seen anything like that, just a few 3-eyed fish.

http://i.imgur.com/oAl3qFrl.jpg

I took this with magnifying glass + phone.

18 dollar USB microscope from Amazon :-)

http://i.imgur.com/PQk30Wrl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vWSn5o1l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EXgPzpEl.jpg

UPDATE: They appear to be Protozoans, more specifically Ciliates. Dont have a species or anything more specific..

Protozoa are single-celled organisms and are one of the simplest forms of life. In the modern classification of organisms, the protozoa belong to the kingdom Protista along with the algae and lower fungi. The Protozoa are unique in that the single cell performs all the functions of feeding, digestion, excretion, respiration and reproduction.

Protozoans are a highly diverse group of single-celled organisms. Some protozoans are plant-like in that they contain chloropyll and so can use energy directly from the sun (producers or autotrophs); these may or may not be mobile. Many of these are classified with the algae. Other protozoans are more animal-like, getting their energy by absorbing nutrients from the environment or by consuming other organisms (heterotrophs; consumers and decomposers). Some are capable of both at once (mixotrophs). Still others include a wide variety of parasites.

https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/.../Protozoa.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciliate

Quote:

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Originally Posted by macado

UPDATE: They appear to be Protozoans, more specifically Ciliates. Dont have a species or anything more specific..

Protozoa are single-celled organisms and are one of the simplest forms of life. In the modern classification of organisms, the protozoa belong to the kingdom Protista along with the algae and lower fungi. The Protozoa are unique in that the single cell performs all the functions of feeding, digestion, excretion, respiration and reproduction.

Protozoans are a highly diverse group of single-celled organisms. Some protozoans are plant-like in that they contain chloropyll and so can use energy directly from the sun (producers or autotrophs); these may or may not be mobile. Many of these are classified with the algae. Other protozoans are more animal-like, getting their energy by absorbing nutrients from the environment or by consuming other organisms (heterotrophs; consumers and decomposers). Some are capable of both at once (mixotrophs). Still others include a wide variety of parasites.

https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/.../Protozoa.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciliate

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Amazing what you see while diving. Especially if you pay attention, and ask questions.

Try googling Stentor, then scroll through the images. Some look very similar.
Stentor is a ciliate protist with one end tapered for attachment, the other end broad for feeding. On the broad end are tiny cilia that flow water/food into its "mouth". The cool thing is that Stentors have a contractile tail, that rapidly shorten its body during shock, in some cases due to light.

BTW, Esperanza is a really cool place to dive. The lobster, the shark, and the massive pillars of marble looming out of the darkness.

Thanks MikeK. Meant to update it earlier but they definitely appear to be some variant of Stentor. Same exact movements that I am seeing on video of them online.

If you are familiar with Shallow / Lobster line, head towards open water section and after you make the turn around one of the marble pillars and they are all over the line in that one section.

Heading back up there this weekend. I'm waiting for new Big Blue 6500 lumen video lights to come in so I can take some better video. :-)

I believe they are Stentor Coeruleus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stentor_coeruleus
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5036449/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...tb06821.x/full

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1808q8Yt1zQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ccGH8JW9F4