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)