Little gem that needs protecting
Many people have been enjoying the water at the Ilparpa claypans west of Alice Springs, but few may realise how precious they are.
Jochem van der Reijden, Specialist Keeper of Invertebrates and Reptiles with the Alice Springs Desert Park, says each small lake may contain unique species of shrimp.
He says, apart from the water birds and dry-land reptiles and insects, the claypans are also home to shield shrimp, fairy shrimp and clam shrimp but samples are still being taken to find out just what else is out there.
"When the claypans are dry there are actually a lot of eggs laying dormant in the claypans and then when there is a flood like, a lot of rain like we had in the last couple of weeks, these eggs will hatch out and grow into these amazing critters."
The shield shrimps are a pre-historic remnant and they look like bizarre, tiny spaceships with tails.
"They've got a lot of frills under their body but it's mainly to absorb oxygen in the water, so if oxygen levels are getting really low in the water you'll find the shrimp upside down on the surface of the water trying to get the oxygen into their gills," says Mr van der Reijden.
They're lives are short and frenzied and they lay eggs quickly, which lie dormant until the next rains.
Mr van der Reijden is collecting samples for an expert in Sydney because new species are being discovered all the time.
"There are so many unknowns still about it.
"Within the clam shrimps, there could be a couple of species within this claypan... they're still discovering new species every time they go and take samples from claypans around Australia."
A sub-species of the shield shrimp are also found on top of Uluru when it rains because the eggs are so light they can be carried on the wind.
"You can see how fragile these animals actually are and you can see that damage can be done quite easily by people that drive through these claypans.
"It's a really ecological valuable source that we've got here that we probably need to be careful not to disturb too much," he says.
"My personal view is that we probably should protect the claypans all together and make it a national park or at least a protected area; but obviously that would require a lot of work and money.",
"When it's dry people just see it as an extremely dry place and it has nothing to offer but you can obviously see now that these ponds are absolutely teeming with life.
"It's an absolute little gem out here."
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