Pond life

[equalsmc2]

A colleague has found a creature in her garden pond which is eating the jelly around the frogspawn. It is abour a foot long, white, and resemble a length of 'thick cotton'. Any ideas?

[jjf2003]

It's a nematode, a 'free living' roundworm (i.e. it doesn't live inside a host's body). It is parasitic and lives anywhere damp or wet, even in puddles.

[equalsmc2]

Thanks for this - I have now googled nematodes and they seem to be much smaller than the one seen in the pond - the largest I can find is half the size of it (80cm). It does fit the description other than the length.

[equalsmc2]

I have had another look and found it. Thank very much!

[jjf2003]

Nematodes, as you will by now have discovered, come in various lengths and colours. The particular type your colleague has in her pond is, I should think, a threadworm.