Animals in 'muddy water' and their adaptations?

Hi there! My little sister is doing a biology assignment and can't for the life of her find out what she needs to know on the internet (shock!horror!). So we were wondering if you could help.





She needs to knows an adaptation (each) of the following animals for the habitat of muddy water (bracken water?).





Example: Diatom - can live as a single, unicellular organism.





Her list:


-- Rotifers


-- Yellow Bladder Wort


-- Water Lily


-- Leech


-- Water Boatman


-- Shrimp


-- May Fly Nymph


-- Caddis Larva


-- Gambusia


-- Water Scorpion


-- Damselfly Nymph





We would appreciate it if anyone could answer ANY of the above (does not have to be all of them).

Animals in 'muddy water' and their adaptations?
Guess I am not sure about the question of adaptation...since the answer for diatom is just a simple description of one, not a listed adaptation. Also muddy means silty and cloudy water from clays or easily suspended sediment...brackish (bracken???) means partially saltwater like and estuary where the river meets the sea.


But back to your list!


rotifers are small members of the zooplankton that are mostly (but not all) free swimming and eating tiny plants (like diatoms!).


Leeches are annelid worms (related to earthworms) that may attach and suck body fluids from other animals to live but many eat decaying material in the bottom of the pond and do not suck blood.


Water boatmen (family: Corixidae) are everywhere! They can be predators or detritivores and are important food for larger invertebrates, fish, and birds.


May fly and damselfly nymphs and caddisfly larvae are common, freshwater aquatic insects where the young stages live in water and eat plant material or decaying matter (mayflies, caddisflies) or are predators (damselflies). The adults of those larvae are free-flying terrestrial insects that often don't live nearly as long as the larvae (usually just long enough to mate and lay eggs).


Gambusia is the genus name of the common mosquitofish, introduced everywhere by people to help control mosquitos in wetlands and rice fields....but they do not eat mosquitos preferentially...just any small thing that is swimming in the water, really.


The links are info at several different learning levels.


Enjoy!