If it were any bigger, and you failed to feed it properly, the carnivorous New Zealand bladderwort plant might take a finger or two.
Fortunately, the ones Taylor Davies-Colley studied for his masters in botany at the University of Otago are only large enough to catch mosquito larvae, water fleas or nematodes.
He said the rare species could be found in northern New Zealand waterways and could trap its prey in nine milliseconds.
To put that into perspective, it takes between 100 and 400 milliseconds to blink.
‘‘I would start to get quite concerned if I saw one starting to get up in size and start demanding food like Seymour.’’
He said the species was in decline and studied it to find ways of protecting it.
For all of his research on the plant, Mr Davies-Colley will receive a masters degree in botany at today’s University of Otago graduation ceremony in the Dunedin Town Hall.
When he was younger, he dreamed of being like Australian zookeeper, conservationist, wildlife expert, environmentalist and television personality Steve Irwin, but later realised there were very few Steve Irwin-type jobs.
Instead, Mr Davies-Colley went into botany because he believed there was a need for people to study and promote the rare and weird flora and fauna of New Zealand.
‘‘As I’ve grown, I’ve kind of realised with the stuff I’ve done making videos and things like that, I pull a little bit of everyone - that excitement of Steve Irwin, that composure of David Attenborough, a bit of Jacques Cousteau and Jeff Corwin.’’
He is working at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary as an educator, sharing his passion for plants as well as the animals living there.
‘‘We often have this thing where people think of wildlife really narrowly.
‘‘They think of kiwi and takahe and kakapo, and it’s easy for people to get lost in thinking that those are the only rare things we have in New Zealand that need protecting.
‘‘But really, we have so many amazing plants and invertebrates and native fish.
‘‘One of my passions is trying to get people more interested in those things and interested in ways they can help protect them as well.’’
Mr Davies-Colley said he was excited to finally graduate.
He was meant to graduate last December, but the ceremony was cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions.
‘‘It’s the end of a chapter. It’s a really cool opportunity to look back and appreciate the time I spent at the university, the cool people I met and the cool things that I got to do.
‘‘Now I’m looking forward to the next chapter.’’
