Observation 5

This week I had a massive increase in the number of organisms. The unfortunate thing was that almost all the organisms I saw were ones I had already identified. I saw thousands of diatoms, many Vorticella's, and several Trachysoma's. I was able to identify two new organisms though. The first was the Oscillatoria, a cyanobacteria (Tiffany 1952). It was everywhere. I could see it moving, and it kind of moved like a snake, except a lot slower. The color was a dark green. The second organism I was able to identify was a Bodo (Paatterson 1996). A Bodo is a flagellate that liked to hang around the cyanobacteria. There were thousands of them in my MicroAquarium. It moved very spastically, and was very very small. The MicroAquarium has been very interesting to look at.

Bibliography

Tiffany, Lewis. 1952. Algae of Illinois. The University of Chicago Press.

Patterson, D.J. 1996. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. Manson Publishing NY.

Observation 4

This week was a weird week. I saw a lot more organisms than I ever had before. There were organisms everywhere, but the weird thing was that I was only able to identify two new organisms. I saw all kinds of Thachelophyllum's and Vorticella's, but I have already identified those organisms. The first new organism I was able to identify was a Midge (Pond II). The Midge was a very large organism that was bigger than the screen on 10x. It had two large black eyes, two antenna's, and a multitude of legs. It appears as if it is broken up into segments (possibly an outer shell). The Midge stays in the plants and eats on them. It did not move much when I was watching it. The second organism I was able to identify was an Epistylis (Patterson). They were kind of boring. They stayed in the open space and did not move. I do not have a lot to say about them because they did not do much. The pictures I saw of them showed them in colonies, but these were by themselves.

Bibliography

Patterson, D.J. 1996. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. Manson Publishing NY.

Week 3

This week there was food added into my MicroAquarium. The specifics of the food are "Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients were: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%. I was able to identify many organisms in my MicroAquarium this week. The first organism I identified was a Trachyosoma. 

  (Patterson fig. 265)

The Trachyosoma wandered around the aquarium. This Trachyosoma did not really do much. It seemed to like just wandering around in the open space of the aquarium.  

(Patterson fig. 317)

The second organism I identified was the Bursaria. The Bursaria was a very interesting organism. It stayed in the same place and spun around. It was moving the water around it, this may have been to bring food sources to it. 

 (Prescott fig. 448)

The Diatom was a very cool looking organism. I was not able to identify its specific species because there are millions of Diatoms. It did not really do much. It floated in free space and did not seem to have a purpose to it. I am sure there was one though. 

 

The Epalaxis was a very quick moving organism. It was very hard to get a picture of. It moved from object to object only staying on it for a split second. This picture does not show it well but it has cilia that  do all the moving for the object. 

 

The Genus Amoeba was a very slow moving object. It was making its way through the plants when I was watching it. It was very large and had no real structure. It could shift its body any way it needed too. 

(Patterson fig. 273)

The Trachelophyllum was the coolest organism I saw. It had a very big vacuole called a contracting vacuole. The vacuole would collapse and re-open to regulate the water in it. It was very cool because I could watch it open and close. 

(Patterson fig. 231)

The Vorticella was a very interesting object. It did not move the whole time I watched it. All it did was shake back and forth. It moved the water a significant amount. 

Bibliography

Presscott, G.W. 1964. The Fresh Water Algae. Dubuque, Iowa. W.M. C. Brown Company.

Patterson, D.J. 1996. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. Manson Publishing NY.