The Last Observation [November 20th]

I had to make my last observation by appointment because I had missed a previous lab viewing. I was glad that Dr. McFarland aloud me to come in, but sadly enough, I forgot to write down the names of each organism that I ran across. So this entry will be limited in content due to that. I do recall the water in my micro aquarium being low, and I don't know why. Thy Cyclops that I had to chase down the last week were no longer there, but that didn't mean I didn't have to chase down a few of the organisms that I came across. Several of the organisms that I viewed had to be viewed under a lower magnification due to their speedy movements. It was pretty neat to make these observations over the past few weeks. I will definitely look at a body of water differently now. Makes you reconsider drinking out of just any body of water.

The great chase [November 13th]

Expected the usual observations today, but it wasn't long before I caught the conversion of my fellow observers, "you can see it without the microscope". Was somewhat curious as to what they were talking about. Heard a few of them say something about a Cyclops, but I couldn't be sure . . . that is, until Dr. McFarland confirmed that what I was seeing was indeed a Cyclops. While some observers were able to easily spot and document their Cyclops, I wasn't able to. The Cyclops in my micro aquarium seemed to be constantly moving. The longest I would be able to observe them would be 2-3 seconds. At times I would be unable to spot the cyclops without my microscope as usual. Then I would tap on my micro aquarium, spot a Cyclops, and then see if I could track it on the microscope. I believe the Cyclops were also sensitive to the light of the microscope. Chasing down the Cyclops took up every bit of my observation time, but it was a nice challenge.

What to Expect [November 6th]

I could tell when I went over to the table to pick up my micro aquarium that the food pellet was gone for the most part. After Dr. McFarland set up my microscope, the viewing began. To my surprise, there was still a lot of activity going on in my micro aquarium. Although there appeared to be no remnants of the food pellet remaining, I was able to see portions of it here and there. As I scanned across my micro aquarium, I came across an organism that was resting on the Utriculaira gibba from the south shore of Spain Lake. As I observed this organism, it seemed to extend its body, and let lose these hair-like windmills around it's mouth. As Dr. McFarland made his way around to me, he told me that what I was looking at was a rotifer (McFarland, 2013). In fact, it was the same rotifer I had observed being stationary last Wednesday. It was pretty neat seeing how it brought food particles and organisms into its mouth with its hairy windmills (as I will know call them). Figure 1. shows the Philodina as I observed it in my micro aquarium, and Figure 2. shows the Philodina as illustrated in John Wiley & Sons Inc.'s Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States by (Wiley, 1989).

Figure 1.



Figure 2.

Following my observation of the Philodina for the second time, I ran across a worm like creature found just off the side of the Fontinalis, a moss taken from the Holsten River. Not only did the organism look like a worm, but it also moved like a worm. Dr. McFarland confirmed the organism as a  Chaetonotus (McFarland, 2013). Figure 3. shows the Chaetonotus just as I observed it in my micro aquarium. Figure 4. shows the Chaetonotus as illustrated in John Wiley & Sons Inc.'s Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States by (Wiley, 1989).

After Dr. McFarland filled me in on the Chaetonotus, he pointed out an ameba off to the left known as a Acanthocystis (McFarland, 2013). I didn't know that it was an organism until Dr. McFarland pointed it out. I thought it was some kind of aquatic spore. Figure 5. shows the Acanthocystis as I saw it in my micro aquarium, and Figure 6. shows it as illustrated in John Wiley & Sons Inc.'s Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States by (Wiley, 1989).

After documenting the Acanthocystis, I turn my attention elsewhere, and it wasn't long before I found another organism. This organism looked like a flea. Dr. McFarland confirmed it to be a Colep (McFarland, 2013). Figure 7 shows the Colep as I observed it in my Micro aquarium, and Figure 8. shows it as illustrated in John Wiley & Sons Inc.'s Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States by (Wiley, 1989).

 



Bibliography

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2013. [November 1, 2013 ]. Available from http://botany1112013.blogspot.com/

Pennak, RW. 1980. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. 3rd. ed. Hoboken (NJ): Wiley-Interscience 656 p.

Patterson, D.J. 2003 Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. 1st. Ed. Washington (DC): Amer Society for Microbiology. 223 p.

The Beta Food Pellet Observation [October 30th]

I was curious to see what all was going on in my micro aquarium this week, but I will be the first one to tell you that had Dr. McFarland not added a beta food pellet to my micro aquarium, I would have remained pessimistic towards seeing any activity in my aquarium. Dr. McFarland had added these pellets 6 days before on October 25th (McFarland, 2013). Those 6 days were more than enough to up the activity in my aquarium. Before I even took my first look, I could hear the guy across from me, "there's hundred of them around that pellet". I was anxious to see what he was talking about. The pellets themselves, known as Atison's Betta Food [pellets], were produced by Ocean Nutrition at Aqua Pet Americas located at 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104, and it's Ingredients include fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives (McFarland, 2013). While the organisms within my aquarium, who seemed to be loving the pellet, may not be concerned with where these pellets were made, or what they contain, it is important to consider all things in a scientific manner. A final observation of the pellets revealed that the pellets consisted of 36% protein, 4.5% crude fat, 3.5% crude fiber, 8% moisture, and 15% ash (McFarland, 2013). I was a little surprised that these organism would be interested in eating anything with even the least little bit of ash. Little to my surprise, there were hundreds of organism surrounding the food pellet. The one organisms around the pellet that was most prominent was the Philodina (Wiley, 1989). Figure 1 shows the Philodina as I observed it, and Figure 2 shows the Philodina as illustrated in John Wiley & Sons Inc.'s Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States by (Wiley, 1989).


Figure 1.



Figure 2.




 

The Philodina was the most active of the three organisms that I documented this time around. The one thing that I noticed about the Philodina is that it seemed to move around with muscle contractions while being attatched to my aquarium via its rear end. The image from Fresh Water Invertabrates of the United States (Figure 2.) gave some light to how they might stay attached to my aquarium. You'll notice in Figure 2. that on the rear end of the Philodina there are two spike like appendages which John Wiley & Sons Inc. labels as the Philodina's spurs (Wiley, 1989). The second organism that I came across was the Cyclopoid (Wiley, 1989). Figure 3. shows the Cyclopoid as I observed it, and Figure 4. shows the Cyclopoid as Wiley and Sons Inc. show it.

 

The Cyclopoid, during the short time I observed it, did not move at all. Dr. McFarland told me that this specific Cyclopoid was fairly young, and that it was in the Nauplius stage of life (McFarland, 2013). I am looking forward to learning more about this organism. The last organism that I documented during my observation was known as a Vorticella, and this was confirmed by both Dr. McFarland, and P.J. Patterson in his book Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide (Patterson, 1996). The images below illustrate the Vorticella as I observed it, and also how Mr. Patterson observed it in his book.

 



The Vorticella was also stationary during my observation. Although I only studied it for a short amount of time, I have these pictures to study as I please. After looking over these pictures now, I assume that the long, hair-like, appendage either holds it stationary or aids it in its move-about. I am looking forward to figuring out just what this hair-like appendage is worth to the Vorticella.

 

Introduction Day [October 16th]

Wednesday October 16th we were introduced to the Micro Aquariums we would be working with for the next month or so. Dr. McFarland gave us a general overview of what we'd be studying and the background of each of the water sources we could choose from. I choose water source number 8. Dr. McFarland described this water source as "Tennessee river at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plan. Neyland dr. Knox co. Knoxville tn. Full sun exposure. French broad and Holston rivers water shed n35 56.722 w83 55.587 813 ft 10/9/2011".

 

After choosing our water source, Dr. McFarland instructed us on how to fill our micro aquariums. His specifications included filling the aquarium about three-fourths full of water with a small amount of dirt on the bottom. After we had meet Dr. McFarland's specifications on the dirt and water, we placed three different plant materials from three different locations. One from a natural spring at Carter Mill Park in Knox County Tennessee.

One from the Holsten River along John Sevier Highway under the I-40 bridge.

And finally, one from Spain Lake off of Camp Bella Air Road just east of Sparta, Tennessee. While this vegetation was taken from Spain Lake, it was grown in the water tanks outside of the Hesler Biology Building.

With all three vegetation types in my micro Aquarium, I could move on to observing what organism might be living within. As for now, this is all can see.

Unfortunately, I was only able to observe my aquarium under the microscope for 5-10 minutes. I was able to see what appeared to be water fleas and a few worm-like organisms, but unable to confirm their true identity with Dr. McFarland. I am looking forward to observing these upcoming weeks when I have hours rather than minutes to observe my aquarium and identify it's residents.