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)