After 10 years of posting photos from the museums I’ve worked in, I’ve finally posted enough mystery objects to have one a day for a whole year. As long as it’s not a Leap Year of course.
So here’s the 365th Friday mystery object:
Any idea what this mysterious wee beastie might be? N.B. it is a genuine enquiry, so no need to drop cryptic clues – I’m just keen to see if anyone agrees with what I’ve identified it as.
Have fun!
Zygoma 
First thought krill (because I see a tiny shrimpy thing and think “krill”) – but could it be one of those killer shrimp? I found this worrying description: “The species (Dikerogammarus villosus) is described as a “voracious predator,” making the European Commission’s list of “worst alien species” because of its high tolerance of different weather conditions and its ability to kill other species but leave them uneaten.”
Looks like an amphipod of some sort. Any information of where it’s from?
It’s from Ireland and it turned up in drinking water!
i think Jenn nailed it. The prominent eye, 7 thorax segments, the villosus fuzz doesn’t look as obvious in this pic, but i’d wager that’s just the lighting. scary sounding nasty bits.
In meteorology, scud can be a low flying cloud, but in angling, a scud is a freshwater shrimp. http://www.flycraftangling.com/index.asp?p=123
Don’t have the foggiest, but…
The antennae look very big relative to the body. Could this be a juvenile feature>
Congratulations Paolo! 365!! That’s a serious number of specimens to wrangle.
It appears to be an Amphipod…I’d guess marine and I agree with James it’s probably a member of the family Gammaridae.