Week Two: Identifying Organisms

On Thursday October 26 I viewed my MicroAquarium for the first time since setting everything up. I was slightly disappointed with what I initially saw. I was having trouble focusing in on organisms and it was hard for me to really find in moving around in the tank. I did not see any dead organisms, nor did I notice any movement in the bottom layer of my tank. So, I arranged a time with Dr. McFarland today for us to meet and he helped me get a closer look with what was going on in my MicroAquarium. We found a lot of different organisms and I took a ton of photos! The first organism that caught my eye was a Cyclops sp., Fig. 1 (Pennak 1938). Throughout the time we spent looking at my tank we ended up seeing several Cyclops, including juvenile forms, cyclopoid nauplius Fig. 6 (Pennak 1938). We came across a few that seemed to be dead, and many others that were constantly jumping around. Dr. McFarland said they could sense the light from the microscope, so it was hard to keep a good focus on them. They were in all areas of the tank.

 

Another extremely common organism I have in my tank are called Bodo saltans, Fig. 25 & 69 (Patterson 1992). They have one flagellum that they use for feeding on suspended bacteria. Sometimes they spun around in circles, and sometimes they jerked back and forth really fast.These were EVERYWHERE in the tank!

A simple yet interesting organism we identified was Halteria, Fig. 305 (Patterson 1992). A rounded cell that moved around like a bouncing ball. It moved this way because it has a constantly contracting vacuole that shoots out water, causing it to "jet off". It has even spikes all around it that seem to move in unison when it bounces and spins around. These were scattered throughout the tank. 

A few more organisms were noted, but not as closely observed as the ones listed above. I focused more on the organisms that were the most common and active. I intend on observing these more closely later this week. These other organisms were Peranema, Fig. 70-72 (Patterson 1992), which has a front flagellum that it uses to pull itself; Epalxella, Fig. 312 (Patterson 1964); and Cyclidium, Fig. 331 & 332 (Patterson 1981).