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Shield shrimp |
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Living in water - while it
lasts
The shield shrimp grows quickly in short lived desert ponds where it hides under plants to keep out of the sun. It feeds on rotting leaves and other detritus. |
When the pond dries out, the shield shrimp dies but its eggs wait for the next rain to fill the pond again.
Eggs in the dust
Only the eggs of a shield shrimp survive dry conditions. The eggs are very tough and can still hatch after being blown around in dry dust for years.
In water they hatch into tiny larvae and these babies grow to be adults in a few weeks.
The shield shrimp
- hatches in ponds that often do not last long
- adult dies without a pool to live in
- can stay as an egg for many years
- feeds on dead plants and animals.
|
 Vegetation
Desert nardoo The desert nardoo has tough, woody fruits containing spores that can remain dormant for many years. After rain, the fruits burst, the spores begin to grow, and nardoo spreads rapidly across moist ground or along the edges of flooded claypans and watercourses. Insulating hairs help minimise water loss by increasing the humidity around the frond. When an area dries out, nardoo dies, leaving its spores to wait for the next rain just like shrimp eggs. Some Aboriginal people grind the fruits into flour for cooking. |
Spore capsules,
called sporocarps fall into cracks in the drying
mud and are protected from scavengers until the
next rain.