Week Four

Earlier today, I observed my aquarium for the last time. The first thing I noticed was that there were no rotifers in my aquarium, and there were only a few ciliates still present. Dr. McFarland said the reason for this was because they just ran out of food. Acolosoma (Annelid Worms) were still present along with Ankistrodesmus and Gomphonema, two different types of algae. There was also a type of algae present that Dr. McFarland could not identify and said it was very rare. Amoebas were also present in my aquarium. According to the Free Living Freshwater book, I also had Paranema the aquarium. It is a colourless euglenid that is considered to be a phagotroph and minipulates other protists and detritus into its cell by ingestion rods (51-52). The first picture above is a picture of the Paranema. The second picture below is a picture of one of the amoebas.

Patterson, D.J. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa- A Colour Guide. London: Manson, 1996.

Week Three

I observed my aquarium on this past Thursday. Not much had changed from the previous week. The only change I observed was that some of the rotifers had moved from the bottom of the aquarium to the middle. The ciliates were still swimming around the middle and the bottom of the aquarium. I also noticed that there were three Annelids at the very bottom of my aquarium. Last week I only saw one and posted a picture of it eating a rotifer. There have been no noticeable changes to the size or habits of the organisms in my aquarium. The picture above is a picture of a ciliate. It is hard to get a good picture of this organism because it is constantly moving really fast.

Week Two

I observed my aquarium on 11-1-07. The Chironomous larva that was discovered last week was not in my aquarium this week. However, I did notice that the number of rotifers in my aquarium had increased. They were mostly around the moss at the bottom of the aquarium. Dr. McFarland pointed out a Acolosoma to me. This is an Annelid worm that was sitting at the bottom of my aquarium. While Dr. McFarland was observing it, he saw the worm eat a rotifer. There was also a lot of ciliates in my aquarium. These organisms were easy to spot because they were jerking and swimming around quickly. The top picture is a picture of the Annelid worm that ate the rotifer. The mouth of the organism is on the right, and if you look to the left of the mouth and about middle ways down the body you can see the rotifer. Dr. McFarland said the worm will constrict the rotifer and digest it. The bottom picture is a picture of one of the rotifers in the aquarium.