Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The second look at my microaquarium didn't produce many interesting results. There just wasn't much activity found in the water, for some reason. Finally, Dr. McFarland had to take over my search, and even he couldn't find much. Pictures of the few creatures/organisms found are posted below.
The first interesting thing Dr. McFarland found was a small group of cyanobacteria (image 1). Then a rotifer (image 2) darted across the screen, with one tail behind it controlling its movements. Third was a group of flagellates. These were hard to focus in on because of their small size, and after observing them for a while, it was concluded that they possessed two flagella: one behind them and one whip-like flagella in front of them. This and the fact that no distinct digestive apparatus could be seen led us to believe that they were Anisonema-like (image 3). Finally, a protist (image 4) with a hook at its front and a distinct black spot in its body believed to be a contractual vacuole was discovered, and is most like a litonotus (Patterson ex. 285).
Because there was not much activity found in the microaqarium, Dr. McFarland suggested the addition of water from water source #13: a plastic bird bath pool found 0.9 mile from Fountain City Pond on Fountain Road Knoxville, Tennesee. I will go observe my microaquarium again after it has settled some to see if there are more interesting creatures in that water source!



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