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.
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