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!