November 12, 2010

The four above pictures are of the Non-biting Midge that was in my microaquarium.  The following book was used in its identification:  Olsen L, Sunesen J, Pedersen B.  2001.  Small Freshwater Creatures.  New York:  Oxford University Press, p. 78.

I identified the Ostracods in the aquarium using:  Olsen L, Sunesen J, Pedersen B.  2001.  Small Freshwater Creatures.  New York:  Oxford University Press, p. 138.

This is a picture of one of the Cyclopses in the tank.  Its identification was made possible by:  Thorp JH, Covich AP.  1991.  Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates.  San Diego:  American Press Inc., p. 461.

This Rotifer of family Mytilinidae was identified using:  Thorp JH, Covich AP.  1991.  Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates.  San Diego:  American Press Inc., p. 233.

The identification of this attached (non-free living) Rotifer was aided in the use of:  Pennak RW.  1989.  Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States:  Protozoa to Mollusca.  3rd ed.  New York:  John Wiley & Sons, p. 219.

November 4, 2010

The insect larvae is still alive this week and is see through with spots ringing each segment.  It is also covered in tiny hairs.  These details were much easier to see with the microscope that I used this week while taking pictures.  I am still in the process of identifying the pictures of the organisms that I took, however, so I won't be posting them this week.  I will probably have them up within the next few days though.  Among the organisms that I took pictures of and have identified are ostracods, cyanobacteria, oscillatoria, and a juvenile cyclops.  The oscillatoria are a type of filamentous cyanobacteria that are known for their oscillating movements.  They are very rod-like and blue-green in color.  The juvenile cyclops doesn't have the long tail that is characteristic of the mature cyclopses.  It is therefore composed mainly of a roundish body with small protrusions spiking off of it and is easily identifiable as cyclops by the eyespot.  There are also many rotifers, diatoms, tachysoma, nematodes, coleochaete, and euglina.  The diatoms are found throughout the microaquarium.  These are characterized by their glassy appearance.  The Euglina are very jerky in their movements due to its vacuole's periodic contractions.  Coleochaete are part of the green algae and are organized into multicellular structures, and are also known as round worms and are unsegmented.

October 29, 2010

On Friday October 22, 2010 "ONE" Beta Food Pellet was inserted into each 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%).

The large worm I saw last week in the soil was much more active this time and actually came out of the soil, so I was able to identify it better.  It is an insect larvae of the species Chironomidae, also known as non-biting midges.  It is segmented, has fore and hind feet, and is pretty transparent everywhere except for the head.  The soil has acquired quite a bit of Cyanobacteria growth which just appears as blue-green filaments under the microscope.  There are also even more remains of dead organisms at the bottom of the tank than there were last week.  Throughout the microaquarium small unicellular organisms can be found.  Among these are what could possibly be Euplotes which more quickly and appear to propel themselves by cilia, and some smaller, rounder which might be Colpodium.  In the lower left hand corner of the tank there is also a cluster of Epistylin.  These have cilia and occasionally move and twitch, but generally are pretty stationary.  I have also observed that there seem to be fewer Cyclopses than there were last week, but there are still quite a few Ostracods.  The Ostracods have an outer shell which is covered with very small hairs and are generally fairly opaque.  Scattered throughout the tank there are a lot more small particles than I remember from last week.  I assume these are a result of the pellet that was added breaking down.

October 22, 2010

The trapping bladders on Plant B (Utricularia gibba L.) now contain many of the small, round organisms that were in the aquarium last week.  I believe that the round green, stationary organisms that I observed last week were actually these bladders before they had fully matured.  There are also many cyclops organisms which are classified as free-living copepods.  They are very common, found in soils and sands of quiet waters, about 1 to 2 mm, and greyish brown in color.  These are found throughout the aquarium.  At the bottom of the tank I observed several dead organism which is not surprising since the number of organisms in the aquarium seems to have to decreased dramatically from my last observation.  One of these dead organisms was surrounded by small, green, single-celled organisms.  While looking for organisms in and around the soil at the bottom of the tank I also saw what appeared to be some sort of a large worm occasionally stick its head out of the soil to feed on the remains of the organisms that had gathered in the soil.  I never really had the chance to have a good enough view of it to identify it, however, since it kept retreating back into the soil.

October 12, 2010

Today we set up the microaquarium by pipetting mud and water from our chosen water source into the aquarium.  The aquarium consists of two rectangular pieces of glass sealed together on three sides.  After the mud settled to the bottom we inserted small pieces of two different species of plants into it as well to provide oxygen for the organisms.

My water source is number 11.  Fountain City Duck Pond. West of Broadway at Cedar Lane. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Full sun exposure. Spring Feed Pond N36 02.087 W83 55.967 963 ft 10/10/2010.  One of the plants we added to the tank was Fontinalissp. Moss (Plant A).  Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/10/2010.  The other species of plant we added was Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant (Plant B).  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.

While viewing the aquarium under a microscope I observed some round, green, stationary organisms.  There were also some that were not green and that had two long tails.  They would stay still for a while, but would go really fast when they did move.  Another organism that I observed that wasn't green seemed to have an opening that they used to propel themselves.