Parasite?

[Terra]

Calling all parasite gurus! A friend of mine is a biology teacher and took a sample from my pond to look at under microscope in class. This is what she found. Does this look like a nematode or? Should I treat my pond with something or is it something beneficial? I have dogs that regularly drink from my pond so I'm worried about it being a nematode and giving my dogs and fish round worms!

 

[Terra]

Found this on google... looks almost exactly like what my friend found.

 

[DutchMuch]

This is a nematode.
I don't think yours looks like one.
Nemo's don't have round heads.

 

[IPA]

My non informed "gut" says if birds and other critters visit your pond there will be some level of parasites in the water. I think there is a preventative pill for dogs if they drink from water source exposed to mosquitoes. We use trifexis but not sure if that has the medicine for anti-parasite from mosquitoes in it.

I think birds are big carriers of parasites from exposure to mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, etc. and since birds love to bathe in pond water, no way to avoid them.

 

[Terra]

View attachment 104065
This is a nematode.
I don't think yours looks like one.
Nemo's don't have round heads.

Ok cool! Any idea what the thing she found might be?

 

[Terra]

My non informed "gut" says if birds and other critters visit your pond there will be some level of parasites in the water. I think there is a preventative pill for dogs if they drink from water source exposed to mosquitoes. We use trifexis but not sure if that has the medicine for anti-parasite from mosquitoes in it.

I think birds are big carriers of parasites from exposure to mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, etc. and since birds love to bathe in pond water, no way to avoid them.

Should I be worried about this thing?

 

[IPA]

Should I be worried about this thing?

No.
EDIT:But you should speak to your vet, every situation is unique. I know there is a pill our vet recommended if our dogs drank from stagnant water exposed to mosquitoes. I don't know what she would say about a clean healthy fish pond.

 

[Tula]

I don't know what it is; however there are many organisms in a healthy ecosystem that pose no risk.

 

[Nyboy]

https://www.1800petmeds.com/product...D=MS&creative=9340923614&device=c&matchtype=e once a month works on almost all parasites flea, ticks, mites, heartworm mange and worms been using for years

 

[Nyboy]

Here in NY Canadian Geese are a big problem. They are big spreaders of Giardia ( beaver Fever ) I have my dogs tested 2x a year. If you have any doubt bring a stool sample to your vet.

 

[sissy]

I have bird baths so the birds get a drink and a place to bath .I had 1 year where aggie grabbed a bird in my waterfall pond so not taking chances .Better safe than sorry since aggie kills frogs all the time

 

[Lisak1]

https://www.1800petmeds.com/product...D=MS&creative=9340923614&device=c&matchtype=e once a month works on almost all parasites flea, ticks, mites, heartworm mange and worms been using for years

Just a word of warning - we used to use similar products for our dogs (heart worm and ticks being the major concern). Our newest addition to the family nearly died after just one application - some breeds are very reactive to the active ingredients in these products. She had a seizure that lasted nearly 12 minutes - very scary to witness. We now use only natural repellant on our dogs after our vet told us how many dogs she has treated who reacted the same or even worse. Mainly we use rose geranium essential oil - works great to repel ticks and mosquitoes and it smells good, too!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Definitely is a nematode. Depending of each pond there can be from a few to several hundreds of different nematode species. They are probably the most numerous organisms in the Benthic layer of an earthen-bottom pond and are a major part of an adult carp's natural diet. They are generally harmless and benign, although some species may be parasitic Nematodes should not be confused with worms, different organisms.

 

[Terra]

My friends biological study of my pond is definitely really cool. She also found vorticella which is a beneficial Protozoa that eats free floating algae! How cool is that! They are going to be studying the samples taken from my pond and one of my algae covered rocks this week and taking field notes on their findings. Such a cool experience!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

My friends biological study of my pond is definitely really cool. She also found vorticella which is a beneficial Protozoa that eats free floating algae! How cool is that! They are going to be studying the samples taken from my pond and one of my algae covered rocks this week and taking field notes on their findings. Such a cool experience!

I am certain that she will find many varied and diverse micro- and meio-organisms in the water samples, especially in the periphyton obtained from the rocks. That particular community of aquatic organisms is called 'Aufwuchs'.
A pond is so much more than fish!