water flea; Daphnia
Small freshwater crustacean of the genus Daphnia, often used as fish food or observed under a microscope. The word is usually written in katakana.
When I looked at the pond water under a microscope, many water fleas were swimming around.
I feed dried water fleas to my goldfish.
Katakana spelling is standard; the word is usually written in kana.
Rare kanji form; not normally used.
Rare kanji form; not normally used.
The word is a compound of 微塵 (mijin, 'tiny particle') and 子 (ko, 'child'), referring to the creature's minute size. The katakana spelling is standard.