Fifth Week

My aquarium hasn't changed much from last week. Although, I didn't see some organisms like the lachrymaria. And there is either a new rotifer or on old one that has changed appearance.

Amoeba
I was able to see the amoeba again. I saw it once on the second week and hadn't seen it again since then. It doesn't seem to have grown larger.

Rotifer
I saw the usual rotifer, and a new one that looked just like it except it had longs spikes all over its back. The spikes were roughly the length of its body, and were curved. My instructor said he had never seen one like it before. It moves in the same manner as the one I've seen before without the spikes.

Vorticella
I only saw one of these again. I tapped on the slide again and it retracted like before. It has cilia in a ring around what I assume to be the mouth, that appear to spin. It was stationary, and appeared to be attached to a plant.

Euglenoid
There were many of them in my aquarium. They looked green in color. They are always moving which makes it hard to keep up with them. They are found all over the aquarium. They are green and contain chlorophyll.

Fourth Week

difflugia

scene of more difflugia

rotifer

Vorticella

I saw two or three vortecella in my aquarium. It is interesting how they hold onto a plant with a long, thin stalk. When I tap on the aquarium with a pen, it snaps down to the plant. Then it slowly uncoils the stalk to return to its original position.

Lacrymaria.

This is a fasinating organism. It has one cell in the center of its body, but its neck is so long that when it extends it, the neck is longer than the body. It is always moving around. It is found in the middle of my aquarium. The neck is several times longer than the body. It moves by extending its neck, and then contracting it so its body is pulled along.

Diatoms

These are still the most numerous organism in my aquarium. There are so many that sometimes I forget them simply because they are always there. It is suprising that I thought diatoms could not move, but then I saw one move and my instructor told me that they can move. Sometimes they are by themselves but most of the time they are in large groups. Sometimes they stick together in clumps.

Third Week

Diatoms (Bacillariphyta)
These are still the most numerous organism in the aquarium.
These are a major group of Eukaryotes.
They belong to a group of heterokonts including autotrophs and heterotrophs.
The lack flagella.
They have chlorophyll a and c, and carotenoids. This gives them their yellow and brown colors.

Classification of Diatoms
Domain = Eukaryotes
Kingdom = Chromalveolata
Phylum = Heterokontophyta
Class = Bacillariophycaea

Amoeba

These are Eukaryotes.
Amoeba are single celled organisms with no fixed shape.
It moves by changing its shape, by extending and contracting its cell wall in areas known as pseudopods.
Amoeba are clear, and lack chlorophyll.
Amoeba are large, and even visible without a microscope.
My amoeba is larger than any other organism in my aquarium.

This was in the middle and close to the bottom of the aquarium.
I only saw one.

Classification
Domain = Eukaryota
Kingdom = Amoebozoa
Phylum = Tubulinea
Order = Tubulinida
Family = Amoebidae
Genus = Amoeba


Citations
Cook, Rebecca et al. “Unit 5: Respiration.” General Botany 111 Laboratory Manual. Page 110.
Wikipedia. "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba".
Wikipedia. "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom".

Second Week

10-22-2008 Wed
The organisms in my aquarium have multiplied.

Diatoms
The diatoms were the most numerous, but they are very small.
There were all kinds, of all different shapes and sizes.
There were minor color differences between them.
But mostly they were clear, like glass or bubbles.
These were mostly found in the middle of my aquarium.
These are eukaryotic algae, and single-celled.
They belong to a large group, and they are both autotrophs and heterotrophs.
Classification is still unsettled.
These were the dominant organism. There were so many that at first I thought they were the only thing in my aquarium.

Nematodes
These are snake-like organisms.
They are parasitic and can be found in plants and animals, including humans.
They reproduce sexually. The male is smaller than the female, and the female lays eggs that hatch into larva.
They move very fast, by coiling and uncoiling.
They were found all over the aquarium.

Paramecium (cilia group)
They are Eukaryotes. Their bodies are covered in cilia.
These were mostly found in the middle of my aquarium.
They move and their movement is by their cilia spiraling through the water.
They are unicellular organisms and they feed on bacteria.
They were many of them.

Rotifer
The name comes from the Latin, meaning "wheel bearer".
These are multicellular organisms.
They have cilia around their mouth, which they move by.
These cilia look like a spinning wheel.
Rotifers are found in both fresh water and moist soil.
They are found in both still water and moving water.
In still water they are found at the bottom.
They reproduce asexually. Their reproduction is unusual - their females produce daughters from unfertilized eggs.
I only observed one. It was near the bottom.
I could see internal structures.

first week

10-22-2008 Wednesday
I drew water from the dish that was provided to us by our instructor. Mine was from a fresh water pond and I put in some green vegetation to provide food for my organisms. It was interesting because when I looked into my aquarium I was able to see some organisms already.
Some of the organisms were:

Unknown (Desmid class)
This is a long, green cigar-shaped organism.
It moves very slowly.
It has a single flagella. There appears to be a small head.
There were many of them, in the middle of the aquarium.

Spirostomum
This is a large, cigar-shaped organism.
It moves at a medium speed.
There were no flagella seen.
I only saw it once, near the bottom.

Actinosphaerium (cilia group)
This looks like an exploding star.
It was spherical with things that looked like spikes all around it.
It was stationary and the spikes didn't move.
I saw two, in the middle of the aquarium.

Nematode (Kingdom animalia)
This is long and spiral shaped.
This is a multi-celled organism.
It moves very fast.
It was found all over the aquarium, but it moves so fast it was hard to tell if it was the same one.

Epistylis (cilia group)
This looks like a cone with a rounded "head" at the top.
It has a single flagella at the thin end.
It was stationary.
I only saw one, in the middle.

Rotifer (unknown type)
This is bottle-shaped.
I only saw it once.
It moves, but within a limited area.