Observations of Week 1!

This week I observed my little micro aquarium under a different type of microscope that had the ability to magnify at a higher rate and take photographs. After a week of resting, the organisms within my microaquarium have begun to flourish and thrive in their new environment. Upon observing I can across many more single cell organisms than I had initially, and even began to see quite a few more complex single cell organisms. I saw quite a crustacean like micro organisms (they were not crustaceans but they reminded me of horseshoe crabs). I also saw quite a few simple rounded organisms and even an amoeba. Though I took many pictures, the one I have chose to focus on this week is of the Litonotus Sp. which I classified from the book Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. Here is what he looks like:

Based on what the book says, this is a juvenile for of Litionous Sp. This is recognized by the lack of a "ingestion region  is extended giving it the appearance of a long neck" (Patterson 133). These little critters are typically found in a water column, substrate or detritus, and their mouths tend to be very hard to see (Patterson 133). This was one of many creatures I caught on camera and I can't wait to begin classifying them and sharing them next week!

Bibliography:
 

Patterson, D.J. 1992. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. Manson Publishing Ltd. 133pg.

Building of the Micro Aquarium

Last week we began our micro aquarium term project, and during lab we built our very own micro aquariums using samples collected by Dr. McFarland. To build the aquarium itself, we did the following;
gathered the materials;
dat blue stick putty, a microquarium, a microaquarium lid, a micro aquarium base, and colored stickers to label our aquariums.
Then put them together by connecting the micro aquarium base to the microaquarium, then placed two beads of dat blue stick to the lid and placed that on top to create our very own micro aquarium!
Upon building these aquariums we made sure to include a viable soil sample, a few aquatic plants and water samples from various layers of the sample we chose. I chose to use sample 6. Once built I examined my aquarium under the microscope and didn't see very much at all. I spotted a few unknown single cell organisms swimming about and a very interesting one that spun around in circles sifting through the surrounding water. Once I removed the aquarium I also noticed a larger organism swimming around that I had not caught under the microscope. This organism was visible to the naked eye and a very light brown color. Dr. McFarland mentioned that it might be a cyclops. I hope I catch it under the microscope next time so I can see what this little critter looks like!

Also sample 6 was gathered at Dean's Woods Spring Creek. Here is a little more information on the area:

6. Spring Creek off Woodson Dr runing throught Dean's Woods Road frontage., Knox Co. Tennessee. Partial shade exposure. Tennessee River water Shed N35 55.274 W083 56.888 848 ft 10/12/2014