Observation 4

My fourth lab observation took place on November 6, 2014. During my observation I saw more mirk-organisms that I had seen in my earlier observations as well as many that I noticed for the first time.

Among these organisms that I observed for the first time included some Centropyrxis, which appeared to have been recently hatched (source 1, pg 95 fig. 189). It was near these apparently stationary organisms that I also saw Nemotoda for the first time in my aquarium. The Nemotoda was actually inside a part of 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, and was curled up so that it was going different directions inside the plant parallel to itself. It was moving very slowly. It definitely appeared to be feeding and at one point its head and mouth came very close to the Centropyrxis. 

Another new organism I observed was a Tachysoma (source 1, pg. 125 figure 265).  I found this organism moving slowly in the less-crowded water of the aquarium. Dr. McFarland commented that it looks as though it might be getting ready to divide. 

                  Near the end of my observation I found a Euplotes (source 1, pg. 124, fig. 259).  This organism was moving very quickly in the water and it was somewhat difficult to take a picture of it. This organism was noticeable for the visible cilia it has that can be seen in the picture below. The cilia are used by these organisms for many different purposes but this organism in particular was using them to move with.

One final interesting observation I made was that something had apparently died in my aquarium and appeared to be decaying. There were thousands of "small flagellates" surrounding and feeding off of it, but I was not able to correctly identify what these organisms were. 

In addition to these interesting organisms I also saw several organisms that I have seen in previous observations, including Rotifera and Vorticella. 

Bibliography

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