A Farewell

This post reflects my last day noting the organisms in the microaquarium. 
Firstly, If found a large seed shrimp near the middle of Plant B.  It was scary to note because it crept into view only as I changed the focus, and looked large and lurking.  However, it was completely stationary.  It had a degree of opaqueness and was resting in along the plant and was almost hidden by it.  If it was dead or not I could not discern while in the lab because as a whole most of my organisms have been moving more slowly with time.  Thus, I will not claim that it was dead.  Internal activity did seem slow so it was most likely not actively eating.

Scrolling over to the right, by Plant A I noted again the large amount of tiny algae that permeated the background.  I also found multiple closterum.  Some were living, as denoted by the presence of chlorophyll, whereas others I found were dead and lacked any color.  The closterum without chlorophyll had not necessarily sunk much further down than the living closterum, but rather remained suspended in the water. 

In total I found four different annelids while in the lab.  It was sad to see them move so slowly.  The longest one was extremely slow moving and I found it where the food pellet had been dropped a few weeks prior.


There was also an abundance of cladocerans still.  This week I used a microscope that had not been connected to the computer monitors for blown up images, and perhaps this slightly zoomed out effect helped me to notice more cladocerans.  Regardless, they were present swimming around both plants and in between as well.  Their movement did seem slower too, but the abundance was fascinating as I could spot up to four in a single view. 

One of the most interesting finds was a beautiful cyclopoid.  Its symmetry was remarkable and the long hanldebar mustache shaped pair of antennae was very pronounced.  My specimen was found face down on the mud below Plant A.  Its bowels seemed to be slowly contracting, almost with the rhythm of lungs breathing very slowly.  This movement was the only clue that it was even alive because in every other way it was motionless.  The movement of the innards was back-and-forth with motion moving towards the head and back to the bottom of its body. 

Suddenly, it moved!  It took a quick snap motion with its head and then become stationary once more.  Fascinated by the change of pace I kept watching.  According to my observations movement was limited to every minute or so whereby it would take another snap, and sometimes to sequentially, before remaining motionless again for about the length of another minute.

 One more observation about my cyclopoid was its eye spot.  It was unmistakeably red.  It was visible even during its movements because despite the body getting in the way sometimes it would show through the mostly translucent body.   
  
 I will always wonder how went the stories of my little organisms.  However, this represents just a few milliliters pond water and already there was so much visible life to be seen.  I have a greater appreciation for the abundance and complexity of these organisms.  They actually seemed more recognizable than I at first imagined.  For example chlorophyll, predators, shells, shrimps, worms. etc.  There is a lot more living occurring around me than I used to fathom!

The Last Stages

            The observations of the week were characterized as a reduction in motile activity and an increase in the amount of photosynthetic bacteria present in the microaquarium. 

            For example, some of my largest finds such as the annelids and nematodes were much harder to find.  I could only find one annelid, but this one was shorter than my findings in previous weeks.  I also found a single nematode this week.  it was much easier to observe.  Rather than constantly springing around elastically like the nematode observed in week one, this one was slithering slowly when I spotted it.  This allowed me to zoom in and identify the mouth and the anus.  After slowly moving about, it finally began the elastic movements, but with less zest and celerity. 

           The seed shrimp below was less visible this week-my total count while in the lab was two.  Both were near plant A.  The most notable observation was that it tended to be much slower in its movements. The first Seed Shrimp I found was searching for food, and, like the annelid I found in a previous week, would move exhibit a recoil reaction to bumping into strands of plant A.  The second one I mistakenly thought at first to be dead.  It was resting near the sand of plant A, simply not moving.  When I focused the lighting and the lens it then moved upwards.  The lack of visible color also led me to believe it was dead. 

Mikel, G.  Seed shrimp illustrated. Gina Mikel Illustration Photography. 2009.

Available from: http://www.scientificillustrator.com/illustration/fish/seed-shrimp.html

           

          The cladoceran, as pictured below, was found in less quantity as well, and had been one of the most prominent organisms in the microaquarium.  The movements of the cladocerans were also a bit slower, with movements tending to occur on near the tips of the plant strands. In the bottom right corner of the image is what may have been a notosolenus or a  that was to the left of plant A.  This shows that the cladocerans movements were not only confined to either plant, but were rather very mobile creatures that found food near the center of the microaquarium as well.

Rains, K., Bruce, J.  1996 Guide to microlife.  Watts Danbury, CT: Children's Press 212-218p

       

              In general, stationary often green to yellowish green organisms were more present in the background of the aquarium.  My summary of the quantity of these organisms is probably not just considering how many there were.  As conferred with Dr. McFarland, however, the visible presence of more of these organisms reflects the growth of cyanobacteria in the microaquarium. 

              The notosolenus were again present this week, just as last week.  Their movement still seemed to be energized but stationary.  However, their remaining presence follows with the evidence of there being less motile organisms present.

Patterson, D., Hedley, S.  1992 Free-living freshwater protozoa: a color guide.  Washington, D.C.:Manson Publishing 54p.

 

               The flagilaria were a pretty find.  The bluish tint in the background of this photo can be attributed not to the microscope or a new presence in the water, but merely a camera setting.  However, the benefit was that the contrast in colors accentuates the shape and coloration of the flagilaria.  This is a common photosynthetic algae that is characterized by its shape and the presence of chlorophyll.  This image depicts the tendency of flagilarian chlorophyll to gather near the center of the organism.  There were two other flagilaria in my microaquarium residing more in between the two plants and typically lower.  There were some transparent flagilaria near the bottom.  These were most likely dead and no longer producing energy as evidenced by the lack of green chlorophyll for photosynthesis.

Tiffany, L., Britton, M. 1952 The algae of illinois.  Chicago, IL:  The University of Chicago Press  231-235p.

                 This was the clearest photo of a paramecium that I found.  It is single celled protozoan.  Paramecium bursaria are supposed to have cilia, and although this one surely did, they are so small, in contrast to the more visible flagella of other organisms, that they are not very visible in this image.  What is captured is the symbiotic relationship occurring in the paramecium bursaria's cytoplasm.  The relationship is that the zoochlorella, the spherical green algae visible throughout the cytoplasm provide food for the paramecium while the paramecium provide protection and movement.  However, this image was easy to obtain because this paramecium bursaria's movement was near zero. 

 

 Patterson, D.  1992 Free living freshwater protozoa: a colour guide.  London, UK: Wolfe Publishing Ltd.  155-157p.

               Also, still visible from the prior week were smaill traces of Gloeocapsa Calcera.  This is the prokaryotic autotroph reported last week.  This image provides a faint view of the gelatinous sheath  that it secretes around recently divided cells.  Thus, this is a also a snapshot of an early stage in the biological life cycle of the gloeocapsa.

Prescott, G.  1951 Algae of the western great lakes area.  Dubuque, IA: W.M.C. Brown Company Publishers 451p.

 

            To my sincere dismay I could only find but one more amoeba.  Hopefully this video provides an adequate visual aid for the gloppy movements characteristic of amoebas.  This one was found near the higher part of the tank.  Also, visible are the litonotus samples floating around!  Enjoy! 

Patterson, D., Hedley, S. 1992  Free-living freshwater protozoan: colour guide.   Washington D.C.:  Manson Publishing 

Week Three

The effects of a food pellet began to develop this week.  It resided at the top of Plant A and the advent of more nutrients allowed more organisms to survive. 

                                                                                                           

One of the new finds this week was what at first glance seemed like the same cladocerans I found the previous week, but instead were seed shrimps.  The most notable part was its leg like projections that would extend from beneath its calcareous shell and make a scraping looking movement alternately.  There appeared to be only two used, and it seemed through the lens as though that was the source of their mobility- as if they were scooting.  It moved very rapidly in its search for food.  

There were two more annelids.  However, they were a dismal sight.  The movements were markedly slower and it seemed like they were about to die.  The two that I spotted were both near the top of Plant B.  One was behind a plant projection, but was nonetheless scarcely making visible movements, while the other one was slowly searching with its mouth opening for more food.  The winding "s" movement was still present but it was extremely slow and it tended not to stray far from the stem of Plant B at all. 

As for algae, this week I found a clear view of a diatom.  It looked like four rectangles stacked on each other, and its color was dominantly green.  Its movement, as would be expected, was not visible.  There were multiple notosolenus samples that remained in the same location but had the appearance of being energized, as they seemed to vibrate very quickly.  Only when I focused the lens on the highest magnification could I make out the presence of very small flagellum, just single strands, on most of the sample.  They were extremely diminutive, most likely the smallest find for me yet.

Then I found gloeocaspsa calcera.  These are prokaryotic photosynthetic bacteria. The defining feature was an opaque gelatinous sheath that encapsulated four green round circles.  No feeding was visible, nor was mobility.  

Also, there were more closterum, but this week the majority that I found were dead and thus found near the bottom of the microaquarium. 

I found some litonotus samples near the middle of the microaquarium.  There were multiple litonotus samples near the notosolenus, leading me to believe they were feeding on the notosolenus.  They were shaped like bananas with somewhat elongated tips.  Their movements were smooth and tended to look like floating.  Under the lens they appeared to be clear with what looked like darker vacuoles, or some other organelle.  The spot was visible in each of them. 

My last observation were two amoebas.  One in the water to the right of Plant B and the other to the left of Plant A.  They are single celled and by changing the lighting and the focus the matter within the cytoplasm becomes visible.  It moved as amoebas are supposed to move-slowly but surely.  All of its inner composition would flow at once to one side of the membrane and when one point along the surface seemed to get heavy the rest of the blob would follow. 

A Second Look

To begin I will describe the exciting developments along Plant B.  Also, I would mention that all of my observations were taken under variances of the 10X magnification.

 The first noted organism was distinctly a nematode near the middle of the microaquarium, in height.  It appeared to have the opaqueness of parafilm and seemed very smooth.  Its whipping movement was very rapid.  To distinguish from my last post, this organism had no strands at the head.  As for the organism I reported last week, having the elastic and whippish movements, it had strands sprouting from the top that did not seem to be the full length of typical hydra tentacles.  Thus I am still unsure  of what it was.  It did appear to be consuming some of the nearby matter, but during this observation it was nowhere to be found, which suggests that it has deceased and floated to the bottom.

I also found a single kurzia, which is a cladoceran identified in the phylum of arthropoda.  I found it feeding along the stem projections.  Its internal organs were visible through the microscope and it appeared very light colored, yellowish if anything, and moved with the aid of its tail projection.  The tail projection resembled a stubby version of a stingray's tail and seemed to move in a bending form towards the underside of the organism.  Its movements were not rapid and it did not traverse much area but it certainly was an active creature.

  My favorite find of the day was an annelida.  It had a very long body that steadily moved along Plant B without stopping.  Its only hindrances came when it reached a projecting part of the plant.  Any time it collided with one of these it had a recoiling reflex whereby the head would bump first and then set on a new path.  Its digestive tract was also extremely long and was plain to see even within the body.  The organism was non-chlorophyllic.  The body was segmented and had scarcely noticeable chetae, little flagella looking features on the individual segements,whose small size help distinguish this annelid from related annelids whose chetae are more pronounced.  It reminded me of a large snake swimming in a body of water.  To move it would "scrunch" select segments and then thrust when extending the segments so that it moved forward.  It also had a subtle windingness in its movement, that made me also think of a snake.

I also spotted multiple closterum toxons during my session, and mostly near the lower parts of the plant.  The first two I noticed were slightly curved, bright green (from cholorplasts), and stationary.  The cell wall was transparent so that the vacuoles were visible.  The tips in each of them were rounded.  The first one I found was near Plant B and the second was actually near Plant A.  In between the two plants, stranded in the water, were two dead ones that had retained their cell wall structures but had lost all of their chlorophyl and had become clear.

Initial Observation

This blog post should explain my preparation of my Microaquarium and describe pertinent observations from the first day.  We began by simply placing the glass tank on the holder and obtaining our lids.  Next, we each used pipettes to extract water from a water source, of which there were twelve pond samples.  I chose the pond sample "9"  which is from the pond at Sterchi Hills Greenway Trail (Rife Range Rd., Knoxville, TN.  Sheet runoff N36 02.687 W83 57.159 1065 ft).  I filled my tank about 5/8 full and then inserted a thin layer of mud from my pond sample into the bottom of my tank.  The last items to be placed in my tank were a sample of utricularia gibba, labeled "plant A" and fontinalis, "plant B".  We were instructed to examine specifically plant B.  Immediately I noted the presence of moving organisms moving sporadically.  During this first observation I spotted two that had a very thin elongated shape with strands sticking out of the top.  It moved elastically and quickly with visibly exceptional torque, but mad almost no change in location relative to the plant.  It may have been consuming a food source but its movements resembled that of a flapping fish when taken from its water environment. This one organism was multicellular and was not green.  The two specimen of this organism that I spotted were on opposite sides of the plant sample, both dwelling near the top part of plant B.  The other organism was round and very small.  There were two of these and I did not detect any green color.  My hypothesis is that it was multicellular because despite its minuscule size and very simple round shape, it did not resemble other single celled organisms that I have been exposed to.  The two that I spotted were near the middle of the cell.  Their movement was calm.  The body did not visibly move like the first organism, but it did float slowly beside plant B.