5th and Final Observation!

So, yet again, the water level in the tank was nonexistent, however I did still get to catch some living organisms.

Let's start however with the deceased. There was a ton more dead organisms located at the bottom of the tank, attached to the leaves, and at the top of the tank ( can be explained, there was no water). Dead cyanobacteria was located at the top of the aquarium, numbering one in total and a another greenish/blue cyanobacteria at the bottom of the tank. There was numerous ( over fifteen ) algal Fragiliaria sp. lying motionless at the bottom of the aquarium (Prescott 1964).

It's ALIVE...
So, here are some organisms that were alive, still.
I found eight rotifers in total. Each were the Philodina sp. and they all moved like an inching worm, either attached to something like a plant or a glob of dirt (Patterson 1996). Three of the rotifers were found at the top of aquarium, three at the bottom, and two located on a plant near the side of the aquarium. Rotifers are actually a part of the Metazoa, which are animals (Patterson 1996). Four Peranema sp. (protist) were near the edge of the aquarium and they moved like a pro swimmer with a flagella (Patterson 1996). I saw one Actinosphaerium sp. (a protist) at the bottom of the tank, and it did not move while I was watching it (Patterson 1996). I saw seven diatoms, which are a part of the Pinnularia genus with a brownish color near the bottom of the tank, barely moving (Patterson 1996). A Vorticella appeared at the bottom of the tank, swinging its ciliate head side to side (Patterson 1996). And finally there was one Nematoda wiggling and squirming like a worm at the bottom of the aquarium near the dirt (Pennak 1989).

Alright guys, thanks for being my faithful SkittleSafari Supporters!!
Bye!!

4th Observation!-November 9, 2012

When I retrieved my MicroAquarium, I found that the water level from the French Broad River, Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge, yet again, had dipped extremely low and I had to re-fill the aquarium with water found in the lab (McFarland 2012).

I found loads of dead organisms located both at the top of the aquarium where there was no water and at the bottom where there was dirt. Some of the dead organisms I recognized as being two cyanobacteria (including a Merismopedia sp. found in my other blogs), about three rotifers, which are a type of aquatic protist (unicellular), (including Philodina sp.), and a couple of algae (Patterson 1996 and Pennak 1989).

For living organisms, I found a lone cyanobacteria that was chlorophyll green and found at the bottom of the tank near the dirt, it did not move much. I counted six Vorticella at the bottom of the tank that were only moving their cilia on the top of their bodies (Patterson 1996). There were several rotifers (Philodina sp.) in several locations including at bottom left and right of the tank (Pennak 1989). The Philodinas had rotating fixtures on the top of their heads and moved spastically to the nearest dirt clod or were clinging to a plant (Pennak 1989). There were three unicellular organisms near the bottom of the aquarium that I have not identified yet. The three unidentified unicellular organisms barely moved, and when they did they moved slowly to the left or right. I saw two Actinosphaerium sp. near the bottom of the aquarium, moving slowly and heading towards the dirt (Patterson 1996). (Pictures of each of the organisms are found in previous posts as well as their descriptions and citations)

That's about it!

Signing out!

3rd Observation!- November 2, 2012

This is the write-up for my third observation after Dr. McFarland placed the Beta Food Pellet into my MicroAquarium.

Some of the things I noticed that changed were the accumulation of dead organisms and material scattered around inside the aquarium. There was a significant decrease in the water level of the MicroAquarium, forcing the plants to stick out in the enclosed MicroAquarium air. I also happened to see orange-yellowsh dots towards the bottom of the aquarium near the dirt. After the food pellet, the number of organism increased, especially the microscopic protists. I also saw plenty of deceased cyanobacteria, especially the Merismopedia that I took a picture of on the last post, on the bottom of the MicroAquarium.

Organisms! I saw some new organisms in my observation! I have pictures too. Enjoy!

I'll start by showing protists.

 Figure 1: This is image above is of a Rotifer, specifically Philodina sp. (Pennak 1989). I saw only one of these.

 Figure 2: This image is the head of the Rotifer, Philodina sp. (Pennak 1989). The Philodina exhibits a head with rotating fixtures (Pennak 1989). 

 Figure 3: Another protist that I found in the MicroAquarium is called Vorticella sp. (Patterson 1996). I saw only two of these in the aquarium for the first time. This protist has cilia (extensions of the cell located on the upper layer or lip-looking structure of the Vorticella that, this case, help gather food) (Patterson 1996). The only moving part of the Vorticella was the cilia on their head and the tail (contractile thread), it was vibrating (Patterson 1996).

Figure 4: The protist above is from the Phylum Heliozoa and its scientific name is Actinosphaerium sp. (Patterson 1996). This little single protozoa was found in the bottom of the aquarium near the globs and gunk of dead material. Sometimes the globs of dirt and dead material would engulf one or two of the protists, or at least it seemed that way.  The Actinosphaerium moved slowly through the water to the bottom of the aquarium. 

Now we are moving on to algae!

Figure 5: This picture shows the algae Fragilaria sp. (Prescott 1964). The Fragilaria are a part of the largest group of algae called Diatoms. I only saw these four and they were not moving. More information about algae and diatoms in particular can be found on this site, which I found to be very helpful. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/diatom.html

Figure 6: The green figure above is an algae called Pleurotaenium sp. (Forest 1954). It is chloroplast green. 

An animal!

Figures 7 and 8: These photos of the same Nematoda, show how microscopic and worm-like they are (Pennak 1989). Nematodes are also called roundworms (Pennak 1989). I only found one Nematoda and they wiggled like worms constantly. Nematodes are classified under the Kingdom Animalia. This website I found helpful for their classification and explanation. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/phyla/ecdysozoa/nematoda.html

That's all folks!

2nd Observation

Observation on October 24, 2012

On the 24th, I picked up my MicroAquarium for the second time to discover new and tons more organisms swimming around in the water collected from the French Broad River, Seven Wildlife Refuge (McFarland 2012).

The plants placed inside of the aquarium (Amblestegium sp.- moss and Utricularia gibba L. a flowering and carnivous plant) had looked as if they had red crystallized circles and tendons that linked leaf to leaf underneath a compound microscope ( McFarland 2012). The water level had diminished some as well, leaving the tops of the Amblestegium sp. and the Utricularia gibba poking out of the water (McFarland 2012). Dead organisms were stationary in either the water or near the mud at the bottom of the MicroAquarium. Globs of dirt and other organic material floated around in the MicroAquarium with unicellular protists and cyanobacteria both speeding and crawling by along the lens of the microscope. 

I actually saw some of the same rotifers that I saw in the first observation. However, I saw tons more protist and cyanobacteria than last time (and I have pictures this time). :>

Figure 1: I located several green cyanobacteria called Oscillatoria sp. (Carter-Lund and Lund 1995). This solo cyanobacteria did not move much and pretty much stayed near the bottom of the tank.

Figure 2: Another cyanobacteria, a blue-green Mersimopedia sp., was found slowly creeping along in the MicroAquarium towards the bottom of the tank ( Patterson 1996). 

Figure 3: The Difflugia sp. above is a protist that uses the dirt and other material in the MicroAquarium as a type shell (the dark covering) and extends its body out to collect more (Patterson 1996).  The Difflugia moved slowly, however, its extensions moved rather fast to collect material. It was found in the middle, bottom of the tank. 

With Protozoan, I found that this site: http://www.savalli.us/BIO385/Diversity/01.Protozoa.html

helped with both the pictorial detail and information. 

Figure 4: Another protist, a Peranema sp., was trekking quite quickly through mud as if it were swimming furiously in the water in the MicroAquarium with two flagellum to help it ( Patterson 1996). 

Friday October 26, 2012: 

My MicroAquarium received one Beta Fish Food Pellet. It is a part of the "Atison's Betta Food" produced by Ocean Nutrition , Aqua Pet Americas, located at 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104( McFarland 2012). Some of the ingredients include: fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins, and preservatives (McFarland 2012). Beta Food Pellets are made of 36 percent crude protein, 4.5 percent crude fat, 3.5 percent crude fiber, 8 percent moisture, and 15 percent ash (McFarland 2012). 

                                     

                                          

Bubbling Bibliography!

Carter-Lund H, Lund JWG. 1995. Freshwater algae: their microscopic world explored. Bristol (England): Biopress Ltd. 360 p.

Council of Biology Editors. 1994. Scientific style and format: the cbe manual for authors, editors, and publishers. 6th ed. Cambridge (UK): Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.

Forest H.S. 1954. Handbook of algae. Knoxville (TN): The University of Tennessee Press.

McFarland K. [Internet]. Botany 111 fall 2012; c2012 [ cited 2012 October 20]. Available from: http://http://botany1112012.blogspot.com

Patterson DJ. 1996. Free-living freshwater protozoa: a color guide. London (UK): Manson Publishing Ltd. 223 p.

Pennak RW. 1989. Fresh-Water invertebrates of the united states: protozoa to mollusca. 3rd ed. (U.S.): Wiley-Interscience Publication. 628 p.

Prescott G.W. 1964. The fresh-water algae. Dubuque (IA): WM. C. Brown Company Publishers.

Rainis KG, Russell BJ. 1996. Guide to microlife. Danbury (CT): Franklin Watts (Division of Grolier Publishing). 288 p.

Hello Skittle Safari Supporters!
October 16, 2012-My Micro-Safari begins!

I made my very own MicroAquarium! If you don't know what a MicroAquarium is, that is perfectly fine! A MicroAquarium is a 2x3 glass container that is 2mm thick to hold water and other microscopic materials that need to be freely observed up-close (www.buildingthepride.com/faculty/microaquarium/index.htm).-My Source :>

The water, mud, and some tiny bits of algae called Cladophora sp., belonging to the French Broad River, Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge in our very own Knox County, is transferred to my lonely MicroAquarium using a pipet (McFarland blog 2012).  I added to my MicroAquarium, a small sample of Amblestegium sp. moss from a natural spring at Carters Mill Park in Knox County and another sample of Utricularia gibba (a flowering and carnivorous plant) originally from Spain Lake in White County but grown here in Knoxville under the care of the University (McFarland 2012).  

With the help of my professor, Ken McFarland, we managed to locate a translucent-looking, inching Rotifer(protist) that moved like a worm attached to the plants in the MicroAquarium with a compound microscope. It had what looked like a spinning, spiked head. Cool. I also managed to see a rapidly moving organism that was darker in color and was moving in a circular fashion on the edges of the mud on the bottom of the MicroAquarium. The plants themselves under the microscope were a bright green and pristine in their fixed, 2mm aquatic environment.

Check out: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com to see the project and even more cool micro-stuff!

Well, that's my first Micro-Safari!
See ya!