Sunday, November 18, 2012
Bibliography
The Chironomid Home Page [Internet]. [TCHP] The Chironomid Home Page; 2012 [cited 2012 November 18]. Available from: http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/~ethanbr/chiro/
Patterson, D.J. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa:A Color Guide. Washington, D.C. Manson Publishing 2009
Pennack, Robert W. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. 3rd ed. New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1989
Botany 111 Fall 2012 [Internet]. [McFarland] Botany 111 Fall 2012; 2012 [cited 2012 November 25]. Available from http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/
Week Four
This was the last week of observation. I was surprised at just how much my tank had changed over the last month.
The Utricularia gibba L. had all died but the Amblystegium sp. had flourished.
The food pellet eventually fell to the bottom of the tank and was mostly disintegrated.
I saw a lot more colopse this week than I have in the past, although I could not find any vorticella this time most of the water fleas seemed to have died.
We did make one new discovery though.
Adult Midge- Family: Chironomidae. Commonly used as fisherman's bait. (TCHP 2012)
The Utricularia gibba L. had all died but the Amblystegium sp. had flourished.
The food pellet eventually fell to the bottom of the tank and was mostly disintegrated.
I saw a lot more colopse this week than I have in the past, although I could not find any vorticella this time most of the water fleas seemed to have died.
We did make one new discovery though.
Adult Midge- Family: Chironomidae. Commonly used as fisherman's bait. (TCHP 2012)
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Week Three
11-8-2012
This week I got to use the camera microscope to photograph my aquarium. (details about the camera and computer program will be posted online. I will share them as soon as they are made available to me)
I saw a bunch of water fleas.
McFarland identified the two-tailed rat-like creature I keep seeing- a Rotifer. He also told me that the stuff on the bottom of the tank is worm castings (poop), recycling the debris.
The photos that I took will be added later this week after they have been processed. But here are their descriptions:
Photo 1: Vorticella
(Patterson pg 113 fig. 232)
Photo 2: Water Flea- Cladocera (order name)
(Pennack pg 405)
juvenile. top image- bottom view, bottom image- profile view
Photo 3: Epilaxis
(Patterson pg 141 fig. 311)
Photo 4: Raphidiophrys
(Patterson pg 173 fig 405-407)
Photo 5: Coleps
(Patterson pg 162 fig 375)
We also saw a Halteria (Patterson pg 139 fig 305) but it was moving so fast we could not get a photo of it.
Bibliography:
Patterson, D.J. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa:A Color Guide. Washinton, D.C. Manson Publishing 2009
Pennack, Robert W. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. 3rd ed. New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1989
This week I got to use the camera microscope to photograph my aquarium. (details about the camera and computer program will be posted online. I will share them as soon as they are made available to me)
I saw a bunch of water fleas.
McFarland identified the two-tailed rat-like creature I keep seeing- a Rotifer. He also told me that the stuff on the bottom of the tank is worm castings (poop), recycling the debris.
The photos that I took will be added later this week after they have been processed. But here are their descriptions:
Photo 1: Vorticella
(Patterson pg 113 fig. 232)
Photo 2: Water Flea- Cladocera (order name)
(Pennack pg 405)
juvenile. top image- bottom view, bottom image- profile view
Photo 3: Epilaxis
(Patterson pg 141 fig. 311)
Photo 4: Raphidiophrys
(Patterson pg 173 fig 405-407)
Photo 5: Coleps
(Patterson pg 162 fig 375)
We also saw a Halteria (Patterson pg 139 fig 305) but it was moving so fast we could not get a photo of it.
Bibliography:
Patterson, D.J. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa:A Color Guide. Washinton, D.C. Manson Publishing 2009
Pennack, Robert W. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. 3rd ed. New York. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1989
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Week Two
11-1-2012
*On Friday, October 26, 2012 one Beta Food Pellet was added to my MicroAquarium.
"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 2012)
I was able to identify the food pellet and noticed that there were quite a few small organisms swimming around it.
There was a lot of movement today! The organisms were small but they were swimming around very fast. They were mostly found in the middle of the tank but the top and bottom had a few drifters as well.
I was only able to definitely identify one organism. That was the Vorticella
Vorticella-
-Located near bottom on fern.
-"A common peritrich ciliate. The only cilia that are present are the weathers of feeding cilia made of an upper band, which corresponds to a membranelle and generates currents of water for feeding; and a lower band which corresponds to the undulating membrane. Food is passed through a buccal cavity before being packaged within food vacuoles. Many peritrichs are supported on stalks. This makes the vulnerable to predators. Some protection is provided by stalk=contractility, afforded b a spirally contractile thread or spasmoneme. The contractile elements of the spasomneme pass into the body. Differential interference contrast. (Patterson pg 113)
I used the BioCam posters to make possible identifications for some of the other organisms that I saw. Here are my hypotheses:
Lots of small swimmers- Protozoa maybe? Colpidium?
Large complex organism- Located in middle. Maybe a Daphnia?
*On Friday, October 26, 2012 one Beta Food Pellet was added to my MicroAquarium.
"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 2012)
I was able to identify the food pellet and noticed that there were quite a few small organisms swimming around it.
There was a lot of movement today! The organisms were small but they were swimming around very fast. They were mostly found in the middle of the tank but the top and bottom had a few drifters as well.
I was only able to definitely identify one organism. That was the Vorticella
Vorticella-
-Located near bottom on fern.
-"A common peritrich ciliate. The only cilia that are present are the weathers of feeding cilia made of an upper band, which corresponds to a membranelle and generates currents of water for feeding; and a lower band which corresponds to the undulating membrane. Food is passed through a buccal cavity before being packaged within food vacuoles. Many peritrichs are supported on stalks. This makes the vulnerable to predators. Some protection is provided by stalk=contractility, afforded b a spirally contractile thread or spasmoneme. The contractile elements of the spasomneme pass into the body. Differential interference contrast. (Patterson pg 113)
I used the BioCam posters to make possible identifications for some of the other organisms that I saw. Here are my hypotheses:
Lots of small swimmers- Protozoa maybe? Colpidium?
Large complex organism- Located in middle. Maybe a Daphnia?
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Week One
10-24-2012
I observed my MicroAquarium this week after letting the water and plants sit for seven days. I placed the slide under the microscope and found quite a few interesting things.
Most of the movement I saw was in the middle of the tank and the organisms seemed to prefer the fern.
I found three moving creatures that were round and mostly clear. They had pincers that they appeared to be using to eat the fern. I found two more of these that were completely still at the bottom of the tank, presumably dead, and one that looked almost exactly the same except it was half the size of the others. I also found two very tiny round swimming organisms.
Perhaps the most interesting thing that I found was a large organism that looked, to my mind, like a rat. It was in a hurry and it had two tails. It sped around the tank as if it were looking for something (presumably food) but it never seemed to find it.
Hopefully next week I will be able to identify these organisms.
I observed my MicroAquarium this week after letting the water and plants sit for seven days. I placed the slide under the microscope and found quite a few interesting things.
Most of the movement I saw was in the middle of the tank and the organisms seemed to prefer the fern.
I found three moving creatures that were round and mostly clear. They had pincers that they appeared to be using to eat the fern. I found two more of these that were completely still at the bottom of the tank, presumably dead, and one that looked almost exactly the same except it was half the size of the others. I also found two very tiny round swimming organisms.
Perhaps the most interesting thing that I found was a large organism that looked, to my mind, like a rat. It was in a hurry and it had two tails. It sped around the tank as if it were looking for something (presumably food) but it never seemed to find it.
Hopefully next week I will be able to identify these organisms.
Introduction
My MicroAquarium!
10-24-2012
Here's what's inside...
Water! From Meads Quarry.
Meads Quarry, Island Home Ave, Knox Co. Tennessee Partial shade exposure Rock Quarry N35 57.162 W83 51.960 880 10/9/2011 (McFarland 2012)
Amblystegium sp. Moss.
Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/9/2011 (McFarland 2012)
Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant.
A carnivous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. (McFarland 2012)
THE PROCEDURE:
To make our MicroAquariums we first obtained a glass tank, a stand holder and a lid. Then we color coded them according to the directions for identification.
Next, using a pipet we extracted water from a container on the lab bench. I chose the container with water from Meads Quarry. We filled our tanks with this water.
Then, we put both plants (Utricularia gibba L. and Amblystegium sp.) into the tank.
Finally we observed our aquariums under a microscope. Unfortunately, I did not see any moving organisms at this time.
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