Observation 3

On October 24, 2014 Dr. McFarland added a beta food pellet to my micro aquarium, to increase activity in the MicroAquarium. The food pellet he added is an "Atison's Betta Food" pellet, and it is made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas which is located 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. The ingredients of the food pellet are as follows:fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. An analysis of the pellet: Crude Protein 36%, Crude Fat 4.5%, Crude Fiber 3.5%, Moisture 8%, and Ash 15%.
There were many changes to my MicroAquarium this week I noticed, mainly among them that there was increased activity in the aquarium, especially around the area where the pellet was.

One of the organisms I observed this week was a Cyclidium.  Cyclidium are protozoa that are suspension-feeding scuticociliate. One of the distinguishable characteristics of this organism includes the large vacuole in the cell, which can be seen in the image below. Cyclidium also have a transparent veil that becomes unfurled while feeding. I observed this organism somewhat close to the pellet that Dr. McFarland inserted into my MicroAquarium, and it appeared to be feeding because the veil was visible and unfurled on the organism(source 2, fig. 332).

Another organism I observed this week in lab was a Heterophrys. These organisms use their stiff arms and extrusomes to capture food, which can be observed in the picture below of the Heterophrys(source 2, fig. 332). 

In addition to these organisms I also observed a Rotifera Limnias. This organism was attached to the Amblestegium barium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss. Collected from Natural spring, at Carter Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox County, T.N. Partial Shade Exposure N36 01.168 W83 42.832 10/12/2014.  This organism was also feeding. Several times it would disappear and then reappear from its tube after consuming whatever food sources it could pull in with its dorsal antenna(source 1, figure J, pg. 218). 

Vorticella were other organisms I observed this week. I found many of these bell-shaped organisms around the area where most of the soil was in my MicroAquarium. This particular one was attached to part of the soil by its stalk and was spinning around, apparently feeding(source 1).

Overall, I noticed there was a great deal more activity in the aquarium this week than last week, which I would assume is due in large part to the food pellet that was added. I will be interested to see if there is even more activity in the aquarium next week. 

Bibliography


1. Pennak, Robert W. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. 3rd ed. A Wiley-interscience publication.


2. Patterson, David J. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. New York: Wiley ;, 1996. Print