Answer to Case 276

Thank you for all of the responses!  Yes, we are probably looking at some type of thermophilic or thermotolerant free-living nematode.  (I wonder if there any of them swimming with us in the public hot springs swimming area?) One good suggestion was that this was Caenorhabditis elegans, a widely studied free-living nematode with some interesting biologic features.  Since I didn't have a permanently mounted specimen (or even a non-moving specimen) to look at, I wasn't able to examine all of the morphologic features, so I'm afraid we will have to be satisfied with a non-specific identification for this case.  I do have a great poem for Blaine Mathison for this case though:

 

On a diplomatic mission to meet Yogi the Bear

Bobbi’s trip got derailed due to a government snare

And with no end in sight

as politicians continue to fight

the fate of our nation is left hanging in the air

 

A big thank you to all of our public servants who are working without pay!  I hope a resolution is in sight so that our government can function again.