Final Post

The Ostracoda were the most abundant and active organism I found in my aquarium. Some of them were smaller than the ones I have seen before, which makes me believe that they are reproducing and the small ones are the babies. Every one of these Ostracoda were moving around and most of them were feeding on what seemed to be the leaves of the plants.  

The leaves of the insectivorous plant stuck out to me in this observation because they seemed to be everywhere and it was hard to find life around them.  

I searched all through the bottom of my aquarium and was unable to finf any dead organisms. This seems very strange to me when I consider how the life in my tank has been decreasingly active since my first observation. 

I was able to see the first Nematoda sp. since my first observation. It was small and moving a lot so I know that it was a young one.

Dr. McFarland and I were finally able to identify something we had been confused about since my second observation.  This species was a Notommata sp. (Josh 2014 fig. 10)

Bibliography

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2013. [cited 2014 November 24]. Available from http://botany1112013.blogspot.com/

Grosse, Joshua [Internet]. Josh's Microlife; 2014 [cited 2014 November 24]. Available from: http://microlife.parvarium.com

Patterson, D.J. 1992. Free living Freshwater Protozoa: A colour Guide. Washington D.C.: Wolfe Publishing LTD. 124 p.

Pennak, Robert W. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. 3rd Ed. ed. John Wiley & Sons, 1989. Print.

Rainis KG, Russell BJ. 1996. Guide to Microlife. Danbury (CT): Franklin Watts. Print. 

Fourth Post

This week I was able to see multiple Ostracoda when last time I was only able to locate and identify one. I looked for dead organisms on the bottom of my tank and was unable to to find any. There were a few more Epalxis sp. in my tank than last time, but they are no longer moving around like they were the last time I looked at them.  I searched for more Vorticella sp. to see if the top was still spinning, but I could not locate any of them to check. Overall, it seems that the life in my tank has slowed down a lot.

3rd post

Dr McFarland helped me to identify this Actinosphaerium sp from this picture. We used (Patterson 169 fig. 395) to identify this species.

We also identified this Difflugia sp. (Patterson 96 fig. 187)

This was the best picture I could get of this Epalxis sp. (Patterson 141 fig. 311)

Dr. McFarland and I were also able to take a picture of and identify this Ostracoda, also known as a seed shrimp. (Rainis & Russell 211 fig. 1)

It was cool to watch this Vorticella sp. tip spin extremely fast. (Patterson 113 fig. 232) A video would have been ideal to show the behavior of this organism, but a picture will have to do.

The life in my tank seemed to be moving less than the last time I was able to observe it. The nematodes seem to have matured and grown, in which case they slow down and do not move around as much.

2nd Post

This week I was able to observe some organisms. Dr. McFarland helped me to identify one of these for sure. The one that seemed to be an insect from my last post is now identified as an Aeolosoma sp (Pennak 299 fig. 9).




I was also able to identify and capture a picture of a Nematoda sp. (Pennak 229 fig 1).

Dr. McFarland and I also identified a rotifer and a Cyclops sp. female, but were unable to capture a picture of these. 

First Post

Dr. McFarland and I began by color coding my microaquarium according to my lab section and table.  We went down to the greenhouse and extracted water from an indoor and an outdoor water tank. We also pulled two plants from the outdoor water tank to place inside of my microaquarium.

Locations for the two plants:

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

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

In my initial observations I noticed a lot of activity.  Some things I noticed were a multitude of nematodes that ranged in size.  There was also a large organism that was hidden behind the plants for most of the time, but seemed to be an insect larvae because it had toes.