Last Oberservation Day - 11/10/09

Last Observation:

My last day with my little MicroAquarium™ was, without a doubt, the most interesting. The environment was the first thing I observed. The soil seemed to be stable, so whatever was munching on it must have decreased in numbers. The water level was even less, and in it's place was a dusty surface. Plant B was starting to fully brown and was rapidly dying. The reason for this is unknown, but I'm assuming it was running out of food.

After observing the aquarium itself, I looked into the microscope to see my little community. What a thriving community it was! The diatoms had completely taken over. They're everywhere and in every shape and species. It was impossible to identify them all.

The Euglena have taken quite a hit in their own version of 2012. Their corpses were what created the dusty area. One thing I did notice (aside from the mass suicide of these little guys by jumping ship) was some new Euglena. I couldn't properly observe their corpses for their habits, but I did identify them as Euglena helicoideus from Figure 386 in Handbook of Algae by Herman Silva Forest.

The Flatworms are still present in smaller numbers. I could only find one Cyclops, but the other ones could be hiding. There were several juvenile Ostracods and twice as many juvenile Gastrotrichs.

One other new guy was Coleochaete orbicularis, a green algae, identified from Figure 75 of Algae of Illinois by Lewis Hanford Tiffany and Max Edwin Britton. It looked like a circle of, well, green circles. These were highly populated around the soil.

All of these new discoveries made me sad to say good-bye. However, it is time.

Au revoir, mes amis!

Sources:

Canker-Lund, Hilda and John W.G. Lund. Freshwater Algae. Biopress Ltd.: Bristol, 1995.

Egmond, Wim van and Dave Walker. "Pond Life Identification Kit." 2000. Microscopy UK. 20 October 2009.

Forest, Herman Silva. Handbook of Algae. University of Tennessee: Knoxville, 1954.

Tiffany, Lewis Hanford and Max Edwin Britton. Algae of Illinois. University of Chicago: Chicago, 1952.

Patterson, D.J. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. Manson Publishing: London, 1992.

Prescott, G.W. Fresh-water Algae. W.M. C. Brown Company: Dubuque, 1954.

Rainis, Kenneth G. and Bruce J. Russell. Guide to Microlife. Franklin Watts: Danbury, 1996.

Round, F.E. et. al. The Diatoms. Cambridge: Cambridge, 1990.

Observation Day 4 - 10/3/09

October 3, 2009:

The diatoms have taken over! That's right. These little protists are dominating my MicroAquarium™. Here are some images I took:

The shell-shaped, brownish yellow colored microorganisms were identified as Amphora ovalis from page 600 Figure A of The Diatoms by F.E. Round, R. M. Crawford, and D.G. Mann.

Image identified as a pennate diatom from "Diatoms" by Wim van Egmond at http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/diadr.html

The next budding creature in my aquarium was the green algae and cyanobacteria. The previous algae was there along with a few new algaes beginning to form. These new algaes will be identified later.

Image identified as Anabaena from "Bacteria" at http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/smal1.html

Image identified as Merismopedia Figure 371 in Fresh-Water Algae by G.W. Prescott

There are still several Gastrotrichs still alive, and I caught an image of one.

Image identified as Gastrotrich from diagram found here: http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/gastrot/gastro/gast0100/ch629waw.htm

The nematodes are almost all gone. I could only find one, and it seemed to be in distress. In its place are a few new creatures. The first is Difflugia. It moves with tentacle-like appendages that stretch to pull it along. There are several of these now, and I caught a picture of it.

Large dark spot in top right identified as a Difflugia from Figure 186 in Free Living Freshwater Protozoa by D.J. Patterson

Another new microorganism is the Flatworm. It moves almost like an amoeba does, and it seems to inhabit the soil. Since he was hiding in the soil, I was unable to capture a picture.

One that I did get a picture of was Philodina. This has a mouth-like feature that crushes up the whole organisms that its spinning flagella (it is a rotifer, after all) suck in. Scary!

Image identified as Philodina from this site: http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/rotife/homebdel/bdel01ph.htm

There was a Paramecium that I caught an image of as well. It has very distinct cilia around its body that it uses to move about.

The transparent, cilia-covered microorganism on the right side of the image was identified as Paramecium from Figure 346 of Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa by D.J. Patterson

The Cyclops are decreasing. I could only find one, but it seemed alive and well. The Actinosphaerium were plentiful, but did not seem to have increased in number. I have images of them both.

Identified as Actinosphaerium from "Sun Animalcules and Amoebas" by Wim van Egmond at this site: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/diadr.html

Identified as a Cyclops from "Microscopic freshwater CRUSTACEANS" by Wim van Egmond at this site: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/diadr.html

Also, I have images of the Vorticella and the ostracod, both of which have greatly decreased in numbers.

Identified as Vorticella from Figure 233 of Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa by D.J. Patterson

Identified as an ostracod from "Microscopic freshwater CRUSTACEANS" by Wim van Egmond at this site: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/wimsmall/diadr.html

As for the environment, the soil levels were further depleted. The food was dissolved completely by this point, and there was some dieback of both plant materials.

Until next week!