Week 1 Observation

On Friday, Oct. 26, I went to observe the contents of the Normandy. There was a great deal of activity. I identified three different organisms, and observed a great number more. I identified Euchlanis sp., Cladocera, and Cyclops sp. (Smith 2001). I observed three Cyclops, as well as a few Euchlanis. There were quite a few Cladocera, or water fleas, generally found along the edges of the  Normandy, near the glue. I tracked one with the microscope as it moved down the side of the tank and then onto a leaf of Amblestegium.

I also observed a large number of worm-like organisms, which I have not yet identified. They appear to multiply by budding, with numerous worms still attached to one another. There were a few single-bodied worms as well. There was also one other worm-like organism, which I believe may be some kind of aquatic nematode.

There were massive numbers of flagellates, tiny organisms which could barely be seen with the microscope; they looked like springs or coils. It is possible that they appeared this way due to the speed of their movements. The masses of flagellates could be seen as cloudy areas within the Normandy.
In addition to the flagellates, there were small, spherical organisms which moved in a spiral pattern. I have not managed to identify them as of yet due to their great speed. They occurred in near the flagellates, and also near the plants in the Normandy.

Overall, most of the organisms I observed occurred in high abundance. A few of the organisms, such as the nematode and Cyclops, had relatively low abundance. I also saw a number of carcasses within the tank, and I did not observe the seed shrimp which were present after the initial set up.

Bibliography
Smith DG. 2001. Pennak's freshwater invertebrates of the United States. 4th ed. New York:  John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

The Adventure Begins

Week 1: Initial setup

My MicroAquarium was set up using a water sample from the Fountain City Duck Pond. The pond is west of Broadway at Cedar Lane in Knoxville, TN, with full sun exposure, and is spring fed (McFarland 2012).  In addition to the water, I added three aquatic plants to the MicroAquarium: Amblestegium- a moss collected from a natural spring at Carters Mill Park, Utricularia gibba- a flowering, carnivorous plant, which was originally collected from the south shore of Spain Lake, east of Sparta, TN, and then grown in water tanks outside of the greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building, on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, TN, and Myriophyllum spicatum- an aquatic plant collected from the Holston River along John Sevier Hwy (McFarland 2012).

After set up, I observed the contents of the MicroAquarium with a compound microscope. I observed several different organisms moving throughout the aquarium. Within the debris layer, I saw two organisms, relatively large in comparison to their tank-mates, which appeared to be eating the residue- these were tentatively identified as seed shrimp. I also observed a number of small, oval-shaped organisms throughout the tank which moved rapidly. There were also a few organisms, extremely swift, with a ovoid bodies, and flagellate tails- these were tentatively identified as cyclops.

Formal identification of organisms within the MicroAquarium will commence next week. Henceforth, I shall refer to the MicroAquarium as the Normandy.

Bibliography
McFarland, Kenneth. "Botany 111 Fall 2012." [cited 2012 Oct. 21]. Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com