The Second Look

It's been a week and two days since the creation of the Micro Aquariums and I am very pleased to say that there has been plenty of development in my tiny ecosystem. For instance, I thought I had seen a few nematodes swirling around, and with this new observation, there were about fifteen, which completely surpassed my expectations. Following one particularly large nematode and observing it's snacking habits, I focused the lens strangely and saw something shaped like a bugle. The chip. One end was opened and the other closed down and attached to the leaves of this plant. The opened wide end seemed to wave cilia around in the water to suck other organisms or plant matter into them, and then it would collapse onto the plant for a fraction of a second and open back up. It also compresses in this matter when it is messed with, shown to me when the nematode I was watching had poked at it. This organism is a Stentor, and there were a TON of them- I'd say there was one on every third leaf in the aquarium.  

Stentor (Pennak, 67 figure 3)

Sticking with the organisms stuck on the plants, I found another one that I can only describe the shape of as a set of gears. From what I could tell, the two sides worked by spinning inward to catch matter in them, and occasionally envelope into itself and open back out. (As shown in the video) This organism is Limnias sp and I counted around seven in the aquarium.

Limnias sp (Pennak, 118 figure 42-J)

There didn't appear to be any growth in other areas of the MicroAquarium, other than the aforementioned surge of Caenorhabditis Elegan populous. 

Bibliography

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [10. 14. 14]. Available from http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

Pennak, Robert [1953] Pennak Freshwater Invertebrates of the U.S. New York (NY) Ronald Press Company

Pennak, Robert [1989] Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States (Protosoa to Mollusca) (U.S) John Wiley & Sons [3rd edition]

Patterson, D.J., [2003] Free-Living Freshwater Protazoa (A Color Guide). Daytona. Manson Publishing. ASM Press.

Ward, H.B. & Whipple, G.C. [1918] Freshwater Biology. New York. John Wiley & Sons. Stanhope Press.

In the Beginning... 14 October, 2014

On this fateful Tuesday, I set up my MicroAquarium. We first had to assemble our slide by using three different pieces: a glass case "aquarium" which is basically two large microscope slides glued together, a base, and a lid. Starting this small ecosystem, I chose to use water taken from the spring in Lynnhurst Cemetery off of Adair Dr. in Knoxville, Tennessee. (McFarland, 2014) These are the steps I took to set it up. Using a pipet, I extracted a bit of sand off the bottom of the canister which held the cemetery sample, some from the middle, and some from the very top edge of the water.Into this, I took sprigs of two different plants:

1. Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/12/2014
2. Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A carnivorous 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. 10/12/2014 (McFarland, 2014)

 Which I placed on opposite sides of the slide. These plants will create oxygen and give nutrients inside the slide in order to keep the organisms inside alive. Once the Aquarium was created, I used the microscopes in lab to see what my tiny ecosystem held.

Through observation, I got a closer look at the factors put into the MicroAquarium, and it seems like a prime place for a microorganism to live in. Sadly I only noticed two organisms, but hopefully with a higher-powered microscope, more will appear. The first, was a nematode. The factors of the low powered microscope and with the way it was thrashing around, I couldn't tell what kind it was, but based on the shape I believe it could be a Caenorhabditis Elegan or something closely related to that. The other organism I saw confounded me. At first glance, I thought it might be a Tardigrade. However, I found that was not the case at all. This organism moved spinning around, like a frisbee, and its shape was finished off in a tip to create a shape more like a teardrop, rather than the blob of a shape that is a water bear. With further observation, this organism with be known, and hopefully, more will surface.