Week 4

I sighted that even more muck at the bottom is missing, I suspect that the organisms are feeding heavily on the muck.

Saw an increase in almost all the organisms that I have previously sighted.

A population explosion has seemed to happen in the shelled rotofers. These organisms could be spotted almost anywhere in the aquarium.

Also could see a noticable increase in the amount of spirogyra present.

Over all the organisms seem to like the muck in the bottom the best, then the flowering plant stuf that I added, and then the moss that I added.

Creation

I took my microaquarium and filled it with water number 8.

Water 8

Tennessee River at the boat ramp accross from Knoxville sewer plant. Neyland Dr. Knox Co. Full sun exposure. French Broad and Holston River water sheds.

I then added a little bit of A and B to the water.

A.
Amblystegium varium. Moss. Collected from a natural spring. Fountain City Park west of Broadway at Hotel. Ave. Knox Co. Partial shade exposure.

B
Utricularia vulgaris. A flowering plant. A carnivous plant. Collected from the Biology Annex on White Ave.

Week 3

There has been a significant increase in the amount of spirogyra in the aquarium. It seems to be growing very rapidly.

The muck at the bottom of the aquarium seems to be slowly dissappearing.

I can see a noticable increase in the amount of vorticella present.

Also seeing an increase in the amount of the shelled rotofer, monostyla present.

Also an increase in the amount of Halteria present.

Sighted the Ostocod, witch is a seed shrimp.

Saw an increase in the activity of the philodina, a rotofer.

The picture to the left is a Halteria. This organism spins in a circle to pull stuf in to feed on. It would make sudden jerks and things would go flying off of it. It has cilia on it that aid in the spinning motion.

Week 2

Dead Seed shrimp was spotted at the bottom of the aquarium. Its called an Ostocod, its shell was all that was left.

Litonotus

The ingestion region is extended, giving it the appearance of having a long neck. It has two macro nuclei located in the center of the organism. It has a vacuole towards one end of the body that contracts and expands with the water pressure on the outside. Cilia are also present used in aid for movement. Cells are contractable meaning that they can collapse up into a ball.

Tactysoma

Organism has a well-developed dorsal bristles. These bristles are what moves the organism along. It also has cirri which look like cilia but do not aid in movement in anyway. Saw a lot of these organisms. They were present everywhere. The picture to the right is two of them.

Vorticella

This is an organism that is attached to the side of the aquarium by a spasmoneme. A spasmoneme is a stalk like structure that retracts up into a ball when one taps on the aquarium. These organisms are very no are very susceptible to predators because of the stalk that supports them. They consume food by the cilia at the mouth of the organism spinning around in a circle creating a suction effect. The food then moves through to the lower band where the food is placed in food vacuoles.

Philodina

The philodina is a type of rotofer. The organism has cilia on the end of it. These cilia act as motors for the aid in movement. They can be turned on and off. They turn off to conserve energy while feeding. Spotted these two feeding on some algae.

Week 1

Halteria
Saw allot of these things darting around in the water. They were small and had a clear inside. They were swimming all around the plant material. "Guide to Microlife"

Cyclops
Just saw two of these organisms. They had very spastic movements. They would be sitting still then all the sudden they would dart off. I spotted these at the bottom of the aquarium near the muck. "Guide to Microlife"

Monostyla
This organism is an example of a shelled rotofer. It was almost transparent. Seemed to be moving around feeding on deposits of plant material. Its body would seem to swell up after it had eaten a little bit. Saw several of these organisms. "Guide to Microlife"

Philodina
This is an example of a non shelled rotofer. Seems to move around by constricting then un constricting. Its movement resembled that of an inch worm. "Guide to Microlife"

Spirogyra
This is an algae with a coiled up organism in it.

Epistlis
This organism reminds me of a daisy flower or something of that nature. The stalk of this organism is non-retractable. "Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide"