Terpsinoë musica

Terpsinoë musica is widely distributed and can be found in freshwater to marine habitats (Wehr 2003). Navarro and Lobban (2009) reported T. musica at freshwater sites in Guam. El-Awamri et al. (2007) found T. musica in brackish water that was characterized as hard water in Cairo, Egypt. It has been suggested that T. musica is most frequent in hard waters with warm temperatures (Sterrenburg 1994).

The 2012 Aquatic Microbiology Class of Loyola University New Orleans collected Terpsinoë musica near the Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station in Louisiana. T. musica was identified by C.W. Reimer from plant scrapings from Comal Springs in New Braunfels, Texas (ILL-L-3-20). Luttenton et al. (1986) sampled several substrates in Cummins Spring in Oklahoma and found that T. musica was the most abundant on submerged tree branches, and was abundant on roots and aquatic bryophytes. El-Awamri et al. (2007) examined the surface of filamentous algae such as Cladophora and found specimens present in long chains, which may facilitate attachment on the substrate and resist strong flow of ground water. T. musica was predominant in the winter and frequent in the spring, summer, and autumn (El-Awamri et al. 2007).

T. musica can also be found on other substrates such as rocks. For example, a specimen by Stephen P. Main collected from the National Tropical Botanical Garden falls pool in Kauai illustrated the presence of T. musica along with Pleurosira laevis (ILL-14-10-98-2). It has been previously reported that T. musica was found with Pleurosira laevis in Lake Michigan (Wujek and Welling 1981). Although T. musica is often attached to a substrate, O'Farrell (1994) found T. musica as one of the abundant phytoplankton species in Uruguay River tributaries.

A forensic study assessing algal colonization on hair submerged near Lake Ponchartrain found the presence of T. musica and P. laevis on natural hair and synthetic hair for at least two weeks of submergence (Unpublished data, S. Wu's personal observation).