Sources

1. Patterson D. 1996. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa. London, UK: Manson Publishing Ltd. 290 p.
2. Pennak R W. 1989. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons. 179 p.
3. Thorp JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. San Diego, California: Academic Press Inc. 300 p.

List of Organisms

Organism/ date first observed/ date last observed

1. Seed Shrimp/ 10-12-10/ 11-2-10
2. Philodina sp. Rotifer/ 10-26-10/ 11-10-10
3. Lecane sp. Rotifer/ 11-2-10/ 11-2-10
4. Tachysome sp. Rotifer/ 10-19-10/ 11-2-10
5. Euchlanis sp. Rotifer/ 10-12-10/ 11-10-10
6. Paranema sp. Flagellates/ 10-19-10/
7. Nematode/ 11-10-10/ 11-10-10

Patterson D. 1996. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa. London, UK: Manson Publishing Ltd. 290 p. (Figure 265 on page 125)

Thorp JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. San Diego, California: Academic Press Inc. 300 p. (Figure on page 190)

Week 5 Observations

The amount of movement in the aquarium during my week five observations appeared to correspond with the previous weeks. There seemed to have been a pattern of less movement after the past three weeks. This week I still did not see any seed shrimp, which were the easiest organisms to spot at the beginning of my observations. There were also not as many of the unidentified unicellular organisms that were gathered in large numbers a few weeks ago. This could possibly be because the food source was pretty much gone, they may have been eaten by other organisms, or they just died off. However, there still were a pretty good amount of rotifers moving around. I even spotted some Nematodes, which I had not seen in the previous weeks. With the food source completely gone, I could only imagine within the next we weeks that the rest of these organisms would die off.

Thorp JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. San Diego, California: Academic Press Inc. 300 p. (Figure 9.1 on page 250)

Week 4 Observations

In my week four observations, I recognized some familiar organisms that I had seen in the previous weeks. However, some things yet again had changed after a week. The movement in week 3 was very active, but in week four there appeared to be much less movement. This could be a result of organisms feeding on others or some might have just died. The philodina appeared to be back at work this week, however instead of feeding on other organisms it appeared to be feeding off of the food source. One thing that really surprised me this week was that there appeared to be no seed shrimp moving. In the previous weeks it had been very easy to spot the seed shrimp. There were still many of the unicellular tiny organisms around the food source, but they appeared to be fewer in number. I am very curious to see the next weeks observations to see if there is a trend in the inactivity in the aquarium.

Thorp JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. San Diego, California: Academic Press Inc. 300 p. (Figure on page 234)

Week 3 Observations

In my week three observation there had been a new and very important change to the aquarium. There was a new food pellet source that had been added to it. This created a lot of changes inside the aquarium. The food source was pretty much in the dead center of the aquarium and this caused a lot of new movement that I had not scene in the previous weeks. The living organisms in the aquarium were no longer feeding on the plants, but rather on the new food source. One of the most interesting things that I witnessed this week was a philodina rotifer. It was located very close to the food source like many of the other organisms. The philodina rotifer would expend out and capture other organisms with its jaws. It appeared to be using the food source as a way of bringing its own food to it.  There were also some other organisms that I discovered this week. However, there was no way to determine what they exactly were. But when I focused in on the highest magnification on the microscope I could see hundreds of small single cell organisms located close to the food source (McFarland).

1st source) Thorp JH, Covich AP. 1991. Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. San Diego, California: Academic Press Inc. 300 p. (Figure F on page 190)

2nd source) Pennak R W. 1989. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca. Toronto, Canada: John Wiley and Sons. 179 p. Figure E on page 179)