Observation 4- 11/10/11

Hello!

Last Thursday, I observed my MicroAquarium for the last time.  There were some changes from my last observation.  There were still many organisms in the MicroAquarium, but it was not quite as active as last time.   Additionally, there was more activity in the bottom layer of the tank around the silt than ever before.  I also observed two dead organisms at the bottom of the tank.

There will a couple of particularly interesting organisms in my MicroAquarium last Thursday.  One of them was likely a monomatta, which is a type of rotifer that we were unable to find in any texts.

Monommata sp.

(http://www.plingfactory.de/Science/Atlas/KennkartenTiere/Rotifers/source/Monommata%20longiseta.html)

Another interesting organism in my MicroAquarium this week was a Philodina.  This one was particularly interesting to me because it was pulling materials toward it and had a very strong current going.  Below, you can see a picture of this Philodina.

Philodina sp.

(Pennak 1989, Figure 3)

 Sources:
http://www.plingfactory.de/Science/Atlas/KennkartenTiere/Rotifers/source/Monommata%20longiseta.html

Pennak, R. W. (1989).  Fresh-water invertebras of the United States: protozoa to mollusca.  New York City, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Observation 3- 11/3/2011

I observed my MicroAquarium once again last Thursday, November 3rd.

Many things have changed since my last observation.  For one thing, there were many more organisms this time, including a Euclanis (Pennak 1989, Figure 2), several Vorticella (Patterson 1996, Figure 233), several Actinospaerium (Patterson 1996, Figure 395), a Philodina (Pennak 1989, Figure 3), a Tachysoma (Patterson 1996, Figure 265), and a rotifer that was extremely difficult to identify--our best guess was a Furcularia--(Ward and Whipple 1918, Figure 871).  Below, I will post some of the most interesting of these organisms.

Philodina
(Pennak 1989, Figure 3)

Rotifer-Possibly Furcularia
(Ward and Whipple 1918, Figure 871)

Another change was that Plant B (Utricularia gibba) seemed to be dead/dying.  Below, there is a picture of the dead plant material.  This plant material was rich with organisms feeding on the remaining matter.

Dead Plant Material -  Utricularia gibba 

 This week was the first week in which I observed any dead organisms on the bottom of the tank.  Below, you can see a picture of that organism, which I was unable to identify.  You can't tell in the picture, but the organism was a hive of activity for other organisms, which seemed to be feeding on the dead organism.

Unidentified Dead Organism

I plan to observe my MicroAquarium again later this week and update this blog with more information soon after.


Sources:

Bick, H. (1972).  Ciliated protozoa.  Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

Patterson, D.J. (1996).  Free-living freshwater protozoa: a colour guide.  Washington, D.C.: ASM Press.

Pennak, R. W. (1989).  Fresh-water invertebras of the United States: protozoa to mollusca.  New York City, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Ward, H. B. and Whipple, G. C. (1918).  Fresh-water biology.  New York City, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.