Tim'rous Wee Beasties

Rare Tiny Creatures Found in Loch Near Kinross

 

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,

In proving foresight may be vain;

The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men

Gang aft agley,

An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!

 

                              Robert Burns

The wee beasties in question here are not mice, but  tiny crustaceans which were previously only recorded at two British Isles locations. They now have been found in Loch Leven near Kinross. And when I say tiny I mean small the creatures, Cytherissa lacustris,  are a species of creature called ostracods and they only grow to about a millimetre in length. Previously the beasties had only been known to be living at Loch Assynt in Scotland and a site in north England.

 Loch Leven is Their Home

A professor of micropalaeontology at Queen Mary University of London, found Cytherissa lacustris in the loch, but not as living samples. The species which is rare in Britain is well reprepresented in other places in the northern hemisphere.He was alerted to the possibility that the creatures were living in Loch Leven during a visit to the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne. The scientist came across a microscope slide containing ostracods collected from Loch Leven in June 1890, among which were several specimens of Cytherissa lacustris which would have been alive at the time they were collected .

No Hiding Place

The Prof studies the fossil remains of ostracods so he can understand winter and summer temperatures experienced by early humans in the British Isles. Now what he has to do is find living examples of the wee beasties. But you don’t have to look far for things here at James Pirie just press the search button and hey presto all will appear. For example I just entered the word “wine” and abracadabra this appeared:

https://www.jamespirie.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=wine