This week I viewed my Micro Aquarium
on Wednesday November 7, 2012 from 12:00 until 1:31 EST. During this time I saw
many microorganisms, many of which I had viewed before. My favorite place to
observe was around the food pellet, which was significantly smaller than last
week. The activity around the pellet reminds me a busy street in New York City!
What I mean by this is that organisms around the pellet are coming in and going
at such a crazy pace it is great to view. One of the neatest organisms that I
viewed was a Lepidodermella! I was very proud that this is the first organism
that I saw and identify by myself. (Later verified by Dr. McFarland) I used
page 179 of the book titled A Guide to Micro
life to identify the organism. I have included an image of this below as
Figure 1. After identifying this I proceeded to the middle portion of the
aquarium and witnessed some of the same creatures as before. I was quite
disappointed to not see the Cyclops again as it was my personal favorite from
week 1. The next image I noted was called a Coleps. This was a very neat creature
as it appeared to have several “fingers” surrounding it. You can view some of
these below in Figure 2. I identified this microorganism on figure 375 on page
162 of the book titled Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour
Guide. This coleps was moving very slowly and appeared to
be glowing due to the fingers around it continually moving. I concluded my
ninety minutes of investigation by searching the bottom of the aquarium near
the soil area. This portion was not nearly as active as the middle portion. (that
is where both images were found, most likely due to the placement of the
pellet) When leaving the room I added more water to the aquarium to top it off.
Overall this experience, in general, has been eye opening! I would lie if every
time I get in the shower I now wonder what may be crawling on me. Even beyond
that everything that I drink, and consume, I began to think this sane thing! Look
forward to going back and viewing more items next week.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Patterson, David J. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour
Guide. London: Mason Publishing Ltd., 1992. 162. Print
Rainis, Kenneth G., and Bruce J. Russell. A Guide to Microlife.
New York: Franklin Watts, 1996. 179. Print
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