From great masters, I have learned to observe the small: the value it hides, the crucial nature of its existence, the astonishing path of its evolutionary journey. It is common for our attention to be easily drawn to what is most flashy, the largest and most imposing.
Without depriving ourselves of the delight of all this majesty, it is enriching and exciting to fall under the spell of so many things that tend to go unnoticed and that we come across casually while waiting for something perhaps bigger. Under such circumstances, I was lucky enough to come across the mysterious Triops cancriformis, a small, discreet, and carefree freshwater crustacean. So much so that its anatomy and habits have barely changed since the Permian period, which it shared with creatures like Dimetrodon or Mesosaurus. Needless to say, its peculiar appearance is a true morphological marvel in the mere 6 or 7 centimeters it reaches. With its three eyes that give it its name, its dorsal shield like a small shell, and its restless telson, forked like a pitchfork, it leads us to think of a creature more than prehistoric, almost alien. This is the profile it shows us as it swims near the bottom of the pond it will inhabit for barely three weeks, after which it will have completed its reproductive cycle. If it decides to “take a few laps” on the surface, we will be lucky enough to enjoy a view of its abdomen, since in that situation it usually swims belly up, rowing with its legs and stirring the water to move and at the same time carry it towards its gills. In this way, it reminds me-although the comparison may sound cliché-of the facehugger alien that attaches itself to Officer Kane’s face in Ridley Scott’s film.
Anyway, despite the unusualness of its appearance, what surprises me even more is its exceptional adaptation to ephemeral environments, since the triops needs temporary ponds to complete its life cycle. The dry phase of the floodable terrain is fundamental for the survival and development of the eggs, which will hatch in the next flooding, provided that the appropriate conditions of salinity, light, and desiccation, among other factors, are met. After hatching, rapid growth and the urgency to produce the next clutch of eggs will be the keys to successful adaptation to these unstable environments.
Although its presence on the peninsula is not especially scarce, it is difficult to observe them due to the brief and occasional nature of their appearance. Considering their inability to move outside water, their distribution depends on other animals dispersing the eggs to other aquatic environments. The vulnerability of this species, as in so many other cases, is due to habitat degradation. Temporary ponds have perhaps not received sufficient attention nor adequate conservation actions until relatively recently. Fortunately, in recent years, there has been persistent work on conserving the Natural Heritage these spaces represent, as well as on cataloging the species as vulnerable. Most ponds scattered across the peninsula where the crustacean’s presence has been detected receive basic general protection in their management by the corresponding administrations.
However, a newer threat has led to the implementation of new protective measures. In 2013, the species Triops longicaudatus was included in the catalog of invasive exotic species after the introduction of specimens from the United States was detected for use in aquariums and even in so-called educational toys that contained, among other elements, eggs of this triops species for captive breeding. The risk of dispersal of this non-native species could have negative environmental consequences on the native aquatic communities of the peninsula, as has already happened with many other animal and plant species whose balance has been affected by similar actions.
After this reflection, I return to the beginning of the text to reaffirm that it is better to learn from good masters and from Nature itself than from living beings kept in boxes with the aim of providing questionable entertainment or dubious education.
María Sorribes
| Season 7. Chapter 11 | Triops |
| Recording date | May 2025 |
| Duration | 1:33 minutes |
| Date of issue | May 21, 2025 |
| Location | Morella. Castellón, Comunidad Valenciana. España |
| Image and sound | María Sorribes |
| Edition | Ernesto Cardoso |
| Opusculum | María Sorribes |
| Music | DPStudio Music |
| Song | Mountains |
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