I am the aquatic larval stage of a land animal. I have a short, oval body and a broad tail, which helps me swim. I usually live in temporary pools, created by heavy rainfall. I'm supposed to grow up before the pool dries up! When the pool gets so small that I start bumping into my brothers and sisters, I then know I have to grow up fast. I primarily feed on algae, but if the pool I live in gets too crowded, I may eat any organism smaller than I. When I transform, I develop legs, lose my tail, and develop lungs. Finally I leap onto land and jump away. Now, I have two strong back legs and two short front legs. My skin is usually brown and bumpy. I jump around all day, sometimes on land and sometimes in the water, or on lily pads. I eat insects and bugs that I catch with my long sticky tongue. Sometimes I have to hop away from kids who try to catch me! Who am I when i'm young? Who am I when I grow up?

Answer

 Feature Creature #25

I am not native to Pennsylvania I am a hybrid between a golden trout and a rainbow trout. I am stocked in Pennsylvania solely for sport fishing. I am very golden in color, but I have pinkish sections possibly on my fins, lateral line or cheeks. I can grow up to 45 inches in length, but the biggest most anglers will see is about 24 inches. The record weight for my Pennsylvania is 11 pounds. I act similarrly to a rainbow trout and am stocked in areas where rainbows adjust well. I am very visible in the water and often preyed upon by anglers, great blue heron, osprey, bald eagles, and many other predators. You will never see a fingeling of my species ina a stream because I can't reproduce. I am not found naturally so I am raised in hatcheries. What am I?Answer

I thrive in shallow areas of freshwater usually around an abundance of plants, debris, and stones. I like to avoid light, so I am extremely active at night. My soft, muscular, and flat body ranges in size between 4-450mm when I am fully extended. The pattern on top of my body can be brightly colored containing stripes of red, yellow, orange, and green. My background colors can vary from tan, brown, gray, or black. My body consists of eyespots on my first few segments and two suckers on the bottom of my body. My suckers allow for me to be a clinger, attaching myself to solid substrates or to living hosts. I move like an inchworm or caterpillar by making a looping motion. I am carnivorous, and feed off of insect larvae, snails, frogs, fish, turtles, and sometimes even waterfowl and humans.
* There has been a widespread use of my kind in medicine.

My class is Hirudinea

I generally live in wooded streams, ponds, swamps, and marshes.
The male’s plumage is very colorful and is composed of a rich blend of reds, glossy greens and purples, and some burgundy-brown. Two white “straps” are located on the chin and throat. Also, they have bright orange eyes and a reddish colored bill. The female’s plumage is a rather dull brown color. But they do have a distinct white tear-shaped eye mark. The females are not as colorful as the males because they need to blend into their surroundings in order to protect their young.
The females lay up to 10 to 15 eggs, which are pale olive green or brown in color. The eggs generally hatch in four weeks. Since this type of bird generally nests in tree cavities or in man-made nest boxes, the day old fledglings have to free-fall as much as 60 feet in order to make it to nearby water. A fledgling may bounce once or twice on the ground, but being made out of fluff and cartilage, they are rarely injured.

Can you guess what creature I am?

Answer

Do you know what I am? What is my common name and what order and family do I belong to?

I'm the benthic macroinvertebrate version of turtles. I am usually between 2-60mm long and depending on what species I am I like to construct my home, or "case", out of leaves, rocks, sticks, or a combination of materials. I construct my case by spinning my own silk that I use to hold the materials together. Those of us that live in your streams like to build our cases streamline to avoid being swept away by the current, but some of us might use a trailing stick in our cases as a rudder! Only my head and thorax stick out and my case covers my fleshy abdomen. I use my case for a variety of reasons. My predators that include fish and other benthic macroinvertebrates have a hard time seeing my cases. When I encounter a predator I duck inside my case. So when you are out searching macroinvertebrates make sure to check all the plants and pebbles to see if any of them are one of my cases! Another use of my case is actually to help me breath underwater. I pull dissolved oxygen through my skin and since my fleshy abdomen is protected by my case I can move my abdomen around in my case to increase the flow of water through it. This increased ventilation can allow some of us to live in areas of poor dissolved oxygen, like wetlands and lakes. Most of us that you will find in your streams around here like cool permanent running streams. Depending on which species I am I can be an omnivore, vegetarian, or detritivore. When I'm ready to pupate I make sealed cocoon inside my case and when I'm a fully developed adult I swim to the water's surface so I can fly around and mate.

Can you guess what I am??

ANSWER

As an adult, I range from 4 to 71/2 inches in length. My coloring can vary, from a reddish brown, yellowish brown, to a light orange. I have a very clouded or mottled appearance. My underside is a lighter color, and I usually have black spots around my throat area. You can identify me by a black line that runs from my eye to my nostril.

I can be found as north as far Southern Maine, and as far south as Alabama. If you come searching for me, you should look in areas where water suddenly springs from the earth (where ground water meets the surface), along high velocity streams, and wet caves. I like cool, well-shaded, and wet areas, such as beneath logs, stones or leaves. These are the habitats I prefer to live in. Also, when searching for me, you should know that I'm partially nocturnal. I like to eat many different types of macroinvertebrates. Some times I will eat a frog or even a member of my own species.

Reproduction begins when the male starts a courtship ritual with the female. The male will rub and prod the females. Often times the males and females will be seen pushing each other and rolling around in the water. This ritual will occur anytime between June and November. I lay eggs one at a time in cool water. The eggs will hatch sometime between April and July.

My genus name is Gyrinophilus porphyriticus porphyriticus.

Source: http://audubon.wku.edu/daviess/nspring.html

Can you guess what I am??

ANSWER

I am a small silvery minnow with a distinct, dark lateral band that runs from my snout through my eye to my tail. I have many brown-black specks above my lateral band. It is possible for me to grow to be 4 inches long. You can find me in stagnate water, but I prefer life in the fast lane. Your best bet when looking for me is to search in the headwaters with a moderate current, springfed runs, and the rocky runs of creeks and small rivers. When I become hungry I like to snack on small aquatic forms including blackfly and midge larvae, mayfly nymphs, and crustaceans.

During breeding times, the males develop a rusty-orange or red stripe immediately below the black stripe. Then in the spawning season, which is from May to June, the males acquire pads on the upper surface of the pectoral fins, and our pectoral and pelvic fins become yellow-white or orange. They stake out their own territory and try and protect it from other males. When the males try to attract females they circle and dance around the females. If they are successful, several females will spawn on their nest site. Each female deposits around 750 eggs on the nest. The eggs fall in or on the gravel of the nest and then the parents abandon the eggs to develop on their own. My species can live for three or four years.

My genus name means "snout-fish" and my specie name is derived from a word that means, "clothed in black".

Can you guess what I am??

ANSWER

I may be a "hog," but keep me out of the mud! I prefer to live on the bottom of clean streams that are free of siltation and pollution. Therefore I am an indicator of good water quality. I spend most of my time foraging on the bottom of streams for any food that I come across, such as plant and small animal material. This makes me popular among my fellow fish in the water. They like to follow me around and eat any animals that I may disturb when I'm feeding. But, my "friends" don't return the favor. When I lay my eggs in the spring, minnows are waiting there to gobble them up. That's why I have to lay so many of them! In the end though, the eggs that do survive grow up and become just like me. I have a brown, mottled back, which helps me to blend into the rocks on the bottom of the stream. And my size varies greatly between individuals. I can be anywhere from 6 – 22 in. long and weigh up to four pounds! So next time your out at your stream, look for me.

Can you guess what I am??

ANSWER

As a nymph, I live in freshwater and can be between 8-35 mm in length. You may mistake me for a mayfly unless you remember the general rule that mayflies have three stick-like tails and I only have two. I enjoy spending my time under stones in riffles, but I sometimes travel into sandy substrates. Swimming is not my forte; I'd much rather crawl among my stone and gravel home. I mostly eat other macros including mayflies, midges, and small caddisflies, but other types of organic material sometimes finds its way into my diet. It's your lucky day if you find me in your stream. I'm a good water quality indicator because I can only survive in clean, well-oxygenated waterways. In fact, if you do find me in a low-oxygenated stream or in your sample tray, you might catch me doing "push-ups." I do this in order to increase the water flow over my gills, which branch off behind the base of my legs.

Can you guess what I am??

ANSWER

I am a furbearer, so trappers like to harvest me for my chestnut brown pelt. They find me at the water's edge- either near ponds, swamps, or rivers. Common in Pennsylvania, I grow to be 22-25" in length, including my 8-12" tail. My stout body and short legs only weigh about 2 pounds. My tail is very useful; it props me up when I stand on my hind feet and functions as a rudder and propeller when I swim. My average life span is only 12 months. Cattails are my favorite food.

photo credit: http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/

When I build a house, I do not work as beavers do- I simply burrow into stream banks instead of damming a waterway. I have been described as a fighter; my principle predator is the mink. Because it is so cold in Northern Pennsylvania, I only have a few litters per year. We spend the winter with Mom, and then start a family of our own in the springtime. Can you guess what I am?

ANSWER

Although it is not as wary as many other frogs, it is still very quick to make its escape burying itself deep in the sediments when threatened. As an adult it will be 2 1/4 - 3 1/2 inches in size. Folds of skin on its back distinguish this frog from the bullfrog. This frog’s folds extend from above the eardrum to about halfway back the body. In other frogs these folds run the whole way back and under the groin. Primarily nocturnal, it may occasionally move about during the day in search of food. It feeds on both vertebrates and invertebrates. Small fish, and aquatic macroinvertebrates, like dragonfly larvae and water striders, make up a large part of this creature’s diet. This creature molts four or five times a year, and if it is on land when it molts it will eat the shed skin. This creature is also quite vocal. It sits in shallow water or on the leaf of a bullhead lily and inflates the vocal sac in its throat. The sound emitted is low- pitched and twangy and is often described as an out-of-tune banjo. The vocalization can be repeated three to four times with decreasing volume on each note.

Does this feature creature sound familiar?

ANSWER

With a wingspan of 6-8 feet and a height of around 2 feet, this is the largest bird sometimes found along Western Pennsylvania waterways. Despite its reputation, this bird is not a strong flier. Rather, it uses currents of warm air, called thermals, to soar through the air.

Fish compose anywhere from sixty to ninety percent of their diet and they obtain fish by either swooping down and grasping fish off of the surface of the water, or attacking other birds forcing them to surrender their food. Although they can hunt for fish, they mainly consume dead or dying fish from the waterways. Their diet is not limited to fish though, and they will eat many types of carrion or even sea lion dung, if our creeks had sea lions.

These birds build their nests, or eyries, in the split branches of tall trees. An eyrie is usually about 5 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep. As years of breeding progress, an eyrie gets built up and continues to grow in size. These nests often make the trees top heavy and cause them to collapse. One eyrie found in Florida measured more than 9 feet wide, 20 feet deep, and weighed over 2 tons!

This bird has few natural predators. Black bears and raccoons try to enter nests, but are usually driven off by the adults around the nest. And, anyway, the immature form of this bird is usually larger than the adult, with the immature females outgrowing their male parent at 2 months of age. This bird used to be on the Federal Endangered Species list due to human activity, especially pesticides in aquatic ecosystems, poaching, and deforestation.

ANSWER

Do you know what the Feature Creature is? Do you know the Order and Family of this Creature? 

Do you know in general, what order of insect this creature belongs to?   Do you know what family it 
belongs to? 

This creature might appreciate Maplewood's efforts to restore a shady riparian zone because it requires cooler streams for survival. As the official Pennsylvania state fish, this native fish doesn't grow as large as others in this fish's family.

Its color ranges from light to dark olive gray or black, with light cream to olive, irregular, worm-like markings. It often has red spots with bluish halos on its body. The tail fin is squarish, and the front edge of its lower fins are lined in white. Do you know what type of fish this is?

This creature is usually nocturnal. It feeds on decaying matter, insect larvae, worms, and others of its kind. If threatened, it uses its wide uropods like a fan to dart backwards. If it wants to fight, it would use its chelipeds for defense.

But it usually uses them for grasping and crushing food, which is then passed to its maxillipeds for further handling and tearing. The chelipeds and maxillipeds are just examples of the 19 pairs of specialized appendages this creature has. Do you have any idea what it is?

ANSWER

Most of the time, we travel through Pennsylvania each fall and return in the spring, but some of us reside here all year round. The oldest ganders usually lead the lines and vees because they know the way south. Adult males, or ganders, average 36 inches in length and weigh in at nine pounds. Often referred to as "honkers", we are all identical: black, white, and gray.

We like to damage crops for farmers, not to be mean, but because we like to eat grass and new sprouts. Our babies are very cute and fuzzy, and we like to show them off in city parks, reservoirs, and farm ponds. At one time our survival was threatened, but now you can find us almost anywhere out in the country. I might also add that we are quite intelligent and wary--we can see you silly hunters out there behind your blinds! If we don't, you might have found us on your dinner platter at the holiday feast! Do you know who we are?

ANSWER

I'm the largest amphibian in Pennsylvania. I can reach lengths of up to 29 inches, although the females of my species tend to be slightly larger than the males. I'm also a pretty heavy creature as amphibians go, weighing at times as much as 5 pounds! And I can live up to 29 years.

My skin is wrinkled and folded which increases my ability to respire through it. I am permanently aquatic, and I live under large rocks in streams and rivers that have a strong current. I hunt for the food of my choice, the crayfish, especially at night.

ANSWER

I'm an aquatic vertebrate but not quite like the ones you're used to seeing. I have no paired fins, and a single nostril makes it tough during allergy season! I have the worst trouble eating as well. I have no jaw, just a circular gape. When I'm a larvae, they call me and my brothers ammocoetes.

I couldn't see any of them, though, because I am unable to see until I metamorphose (change) into an adult. In the French Creek Watershed, I'm found in three different varieties--the Ohio, American brook, and Mountain brook. Now can you guess who I am?

ANSWER

I'm not a very fast little guy. I am usually camouflaged to look like the substrate rocks I try to live between. My outer shells are hinged together making me a bivalve. I only have one foot and don't often travel long distances. I mainly just use my foot to anchor myself to the bottom of the stream.

There are 26 species (kinds) of me in the French Creek Watershed, 2 species are endangered. When you try to guess who I am, put some strength into your decision.

ANSWER

I'm just a little fish. I only reach about 2 3/4 inches. My snout is sharp-pointed and my tail fin is somewhat rounded. I have a dark tint to my body with little red spots scattered throughout. I'm also very picky about where I live. I only like large unpolluted streams like French Creek and the upper Allegheny River regionally. I stay pretty much in deep pools where the stream velocity is very low.

Unfortunately, my picky habits have also made me "endangered" across the US. Do you know what general group of fish I belong to? What specific fish am I?

ANSWER

I'm just a simple bird. I have a wingspan of about 22 to 25 inches. My plumage is rich brown sprinkled with white and black above my breast and white with horizontal dark brown bars on my breast and undersides. I do have a ruff of iridescent black feathers that almost completely encircle my neck.

I could also be a bird in a band because of the way that I attract a mate. I stand on top of a big rock and beat my wings so fast that it produces a drumming noise that attracts females. If you don't know me yet then just remember that I am a prominent citizen of grown up meadows in all Pennsylvania watersheds!

ANSWER

I'm just an insect that moves through three stages of development. Although, I only live a short while (about a week) as an adult, I do get as big as 45-48mm (wing to head). As a larvae you may mistake me with one of my other insect friends, but if you look closer we are different.

We both have 8 pairs of lateral filaments, but I have gill tufts underneath mine. I also have no tail, but 2 anal prolegs with 2 hooks on each. Below are some of my personal snapshots.

More will be added soon!