Final Observation

In my final observation, I didn't find anything unusual or anything new. I found the Hydra sp. again, it has remained the same size, no changes to its actions or appearance. The Midge has been in the bottom dirt of my microaquarium through all of the observations, but has grown a large amount. In my first observation I could barely find it in my microscope and now I can see faintly see it without a microscope. I have a large amount of the Cyclops sp. in my microaquarium and did not notice any abnormalities in their actions or looks.

Observation 3

In my last observation, I saw a couple of new organisms, along with the others I had recently observed. I have a multitude of Cyclops organisms and found several more this time as well. In my last post I mentioned finding a Midge in my microaquarium. I found the midge again this time, it had grown significantly and came out of its shell more often. Along with these, I observed a few new organisms, one being a Hydra. Dr. McFarland informed me that this species is hard to come by in the microaquariums. I also found large groups of the Vorticella species and the Difflugia species, and then a few of the Closteridium species.



Bibliography

Pennack, . Freshwater Invertebrates of the US. Print.

Pennack, . Freshwater Invertebrates of the US: Protazoa to Mollusca. Print.

Patterson, D.J. Free Living Freshwater Protazoa. 1996. Print.

Society of Protozoologists, . Illustrated Guide to the Protazoa. 1985. Print.

Week 3

In my microaquarium this past week I noticed a much larger variety of species. The plants in my microaquarium are starting to be over run by some sort of algae. Looking at this algae spot in the microscope you can see a wide variety of organisms feeding on the algae. I observed a multitude of "cyclops" organisms, several being really young and others being fully grown. A cyclops is a crustacean, which as you can tell by looking at one is related to lobsters and shrimp (Microbus). Floating just above the algae spots was a Turbellaria, or a type of flatworm (Pennack). Dr. McFarland didn't have an exact ID for this organism. In the dirt of my microaquarium, I saw a lot of burrowing cyclops', and also a "midge" or an insect larvae. A midge is an insect that somewhat resembles a mosquito, however they do not bite and are virtually harmless (Britannica). I also observed an amoeba. An amoeba is a type of protozoa. All of the organisms except for the amoeba were constantly eating. Nothing at all happened with the amoeba, I could see it moving at times, but that was all there was to be observed.

Bibliography

Freshwater Invertebrates. Robert Pennack. Third Edition.

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2013. Available from http://botany1112013.blogspot.com/

Microbus. Internet. 2003. http://www.microscope-microscope.org/applications/pond-critters/animals/cyclops.htm

Britannica. Internet. 2013. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381532/midge

Making the Microaquarium

My microaquarium contains water and dirt from the Tommy Schumpert Pond, Seven Islands Wildlife Refugee in Knox County. It is in partial shade. Inside my microaquarium is Utricularia gibba. This is a carniverous flowering plant. It came from water tanks just outside of the greenhouse at the Hesler Biology Building on the University of Tennessee campus (McFarland, 2013). The water came from Spain Lake just east of Sparta in White County. Also in my microaquarium is Amblestegium varium. This is a moss collected from a natural spring at Carter's Mill Park in Knox County TN (McFarland, 2013). It is also in partial shade. While observing my microaquarium I saw several little organisms. One was some sort of small worm. I also saw many little organisms that looked like bugs. Some would move and some would hide.




Bibliography.

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2013. [cited ADD DATE]. Available from http://botany1112013.blogspot.com/