Final observation

For my final observation I saw a lot less living things. I observed many carcasses of my old animals. Sadly, my midge was no longer visible in any form. And it appeared most of the rotifers living off of it dispersed or died as well. However, I did find some interesting species, nonetheless. 

Sidenote: I lost my hard-drive which contained all the pictures I took this week. So I will supplement them with less personal pictures off of the interweb. 

The first creature I saw was a Diatom Pleurosigma angulatum. This Diatom has sort of a canoe-like shape with a sort of central orb(nucleus?) in the middle. The movements however were different from a Navicula, which looks similar. While the Navicula moves almost entirely in one motion, this Diatom clearly had a tail and a head. (Turtox 1937)

(Gouda 2011)

The second creature I saw was a member of the genus, Chaetonotus, which is a member of the phylum, Gastrotricha. This critter was very hard to capture under the lens. It was very quick and very agile. It had what I thought to be two antennas, but I now believe they are a part of the tail. (Thorp and Covich 2010)

(Proyecto Agua. 2009)

I then saw an Euplotes, a freshwater protozoa. I believe I had seen one the week before but it disappeared before I could capture it and ask Dr. McFarland what it was. It was impossible to capture it in full focus due to its dimensionality. So I wasn't surprised when I googled it and none of the pictures that showed up were totally in focus. I assume due to its thin skin, light shines through this species very easily, thus making it's inner organs quite visible. (Patterson 1996)

 (Rotkiewicz P. 2003-2008)

I then saw another rotifer but I won't bother writing about it. However, after I saw this Rotifer, I thought I was done with the project. Then, Dr. McFarland stopped me and pointed out that I hadn't take any pictures of the algae, since they are in fact living too. So I snapped a picture of a Nodularia sp., a type of cyanobacteria. And then I got a picture of an Oscillatoria sp. Both of these protists are Algaes. (Patterson 1996)

(Kudela Lab)

(Silverside 1998)

Blog for 11/06/14

For this observation I saw a few different things. The first and most obvious was the decay of the Midge I had previously discovered from the Food Pallet Observation. As can be seen by the image below. My beloved midge is now being eaten by a colony of Rotifers. In all likelihood, I will not be able to see what remains of my midge next week.

I wasn't able to get any clear images of the rotifers but I was able to identify two of them as Monostyla and Philodina. The philodinas look like little hot dogs that can contort their bodies any which way they please, where as the monostyla look like little orbs with a tail. (Stemberger 1979) (Pennack 1953)

Below, is a picture of another Tachysoma I found this week. However this tachysoma was far quicker than the one I captured last week. In fact, I took over 20 snaps of this tachysoma before I could get this half-focused shot. 

Citations

Patterson DJ. 1996. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. London (UK): Wolfe Publishing. 54 p. (figure 7), 25 p. (figure 5), 133 p. (figure 287), 167 p. (figure 388), 125 p. (figure 265), 124 p. (figure 260), 405 p. (figure 641), 385 p. (figure 596). 


McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [cited 2014 Nov. 2]. Available from http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

Turtox Class-Room Chart: Diatoms. 1937. Chicago(IL):CCM: General Biological Inc. a Subsidary of Crowell Collier and Macmillan, Inc.

Thorp JH, Covich AP. 2010. Ecology and Classification of N. American Freshwater Invertebrates. 3rd Edition. London(UK):Academic Press

Stemberger RS. 1979. A guide to Rotifers of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Pelleston, MI. University of Michigan Biological Station. 46 p. (plate 3b).

Pennak RW. 1953. Freshwater Invertebrates of The United States. Boulder, CO. University of Colorado. 221 p. (Figure 45). 



Picture Citations 

Gouda R. 2011. CaRMS Photogallery. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Dalhousie University

Proyecto Agua [Internet]. 2009 Sep 12. Available from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/microagua/3968996367/

Rotkiewicz P. 2003-2008. Microscopy of the Protozoa: Euplotes sp. [Internet].Available from: http://www.pirx.com/droplet/gallery/euplotes.html

Silverside AJ. 1998 Oct. BIODIVERSITY REFERENCE: Oscillatoria [Internet]. Available from: http://bioref.lastdragon.org/Cyanobacteria/Oscillatoria.html

Kudela Lab. Phytoplankton Identification [Internet]. Santa Cruz(CA):University of California Santa Cruz; Available from: http://oceandatacenter.ucsc.edu/PhytoGallery/Freshwater/Nodularia.html

Beta Food Pellet Observation

This week's observations were a bit more "in-your-face" than last week's. This was mostly due to the addition of "ONE" Beta Food Pellet. The food pellet contained an assortment of nutrients and organisms. The complete list can be found at the end of this post.

The first thing I noticed during this observation was visible without a microscope. It looked to be some sort of flying insect. It was clearly dead and upon further observation under the scope, Dr. McFarland and I came to the conclusion that the insect was a Midge. The picture I captured is shown below. As you can see the wings on a 4x objective are quite remarkable. The midge was so big the entire creature didn't fit on the screen. (Patterson 1996)

The next thing I saw was a massive Nematode. According to Dr. McFarland, I only capture it's backside. However, even from the view below, you can see the sheer size of the Nematode compared to the algae next to it. The Nematode's movements were very windy and snake like. It seemed to be stretching a bit, here and there, as well. This image was taken in 4x as well. (Patterson 1996)

I also was fortunate to see a Tachysoma. This creature was very elusive and quick but I managed to get a pretty clear shot of it. I was able to capture using the 10x objective. It's pretty incredible for me to be able to see the insides of the Tachysoma just by shining the light through it. (Patterson 1996)

I also saw a Euclanis but my pictures were all pretty blurry. It was pretty magnificent looking under the 40x objective. You could see every working organ inside of it. However, it was very shifty and hard to get a good shot of. 

"'Atison's Betta Food' made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: 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%." (McFarland 2014)

Observation 2

For my second observation I noticed a lot of things that weren't visible during the first observation. This may because of the quality of the microscopes used or because of the help from Dr. McFarland. Either way, what I saw was fascinating. 

One of the first organism I saw was the Litonotus. On the 10x objective it took up nearly the whole width of the scope. It was quite fascinating to see it move. The movements were so quick and fluid. I was mind blown. 

I also saw an Anisonema. The Anisonema was a very basic circular blob. It had very short quick movements.

I then saw a Navicula. Navicula, it turns out, is the organism I saw during our first observation. I like to think of it as the canoe-shaped organism. It's movements are very slight and graceful.

And finally I witness a Urocentrum. The Urocentrum was very hard to capture an image of because it was moving so quickly. It looked almost like a little orb just bouncing around the microaquarium. 

Will post pictures this week. 

Setting up my MicroAquarium

I started my term project by obtaining an MicroAquarium which was just a small glass box, essentially, that was about two millimeters thick, about 5 or 6 centimeters wide, and around 3 or 4 centimeters tall.

The first addition to the aquarium was from Holston River along John Sevier Highway. I started by getting a solid layer of mud from the bottom and then tried to fill the aquarium close to the top with water.

I then added some Amblestegium varium, which is a moss.

We then took a look under the microscope. I carefully mounted the aquarium onto my microscope and looked for moving organisms. What I found was pretty remarkable. This one creature I saw under 10x zoom(or 100 times zoom). The creature looked strikingly like a canoe. It's movements were odd, sort of, quick shifts in one direction. It was located near the moss and was quite fascinating.

Hopefully larger creatures develop going forward.