The End Begins

The fall semester is winding down and this past Thursday, November 13th, I was only able to spend a short time viewing the contents of my micro-aquarium. I realized that time would be limited because of all other studies needing to be done for other courses, so I put a plan together for this particular encounter. My goal for this viewing was to concentrate more on the non-motile organisms, the plants. When the plants where placed into the aquarium, they were not in the best health, but today, I am glad to say they are much greener than when they were first introduced. They each have new growth and have rooted throughout the limited soil that was added.
Each day that I had an opportunity to view the contents of the aquarium, I continually checked the Utricularia gibba,(McFarland, 2014). The reason that I focused on this particular plant was because it is carnivorous. In the previous four opportunities, I did not see any organism that had been trapped by the plant, but this past Thursday, my luck had changed. Sure enough, there was an organism caught in one of the plants traps. This organism looked like some type of worm that I had not previously seen in the environment, but with it being encased in the sac created by the plant, it was hard to tell a whole lot about the organism other than it was large (in terms of a micro-aquarium), it was not happy to be in there, and it did not appear to be getting out.
 I have seen many living and dead algae while studying this assignment, but have not taken the opportunity to catalog all the abundant life in this aquarium. What I have observed and cataloged in my mind however, is the diversity and harmony of life. Each organism serving a purpose in order for everything to thrive. This will be the lesson that I take with me from this project.

Bibliography:
McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [cited November 16, 2014]. Available from http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

New Sightings

 Thursday, November 6, 2014 started out very slow for me. The anticipation of viewing the micro-aquarium once again was the driving force that finally got me up and going on this day. On Thursdays, I do not have classes but, I tend to use this time to view the aquarium. I was in a rush, but when I begin viewing the organisms on the screen, the world seems to slow down. I imagine this to be the way people feel when snorkeling around a coral reef. I would probably lose all sense of time and surroundings and get myself into trouble. New organisms where discovered on this day however and I would like to share them with you. The first organism I came across, which can be viewed in figure 1, was a Pinnularia sp.(Patterson, 1996, fig.6, pg.25). I had seen this organism in the past, but it wasn't active at all. On this day however, he was. The next organism I came across,figure 2 photo, was a Euglena sp., which has flagellum and a light sensing area, which was not visible during my viewing (Patterson, 1996, fig.120, pg.70). This organism was feasting on a algae that seems to possibly be creating a bloom. The last organism to be captured on camera, seen in figure 3, during my time on the microscope, is an Anisonema sp. (Patterson, 1996, fig.78, pg.54). This round mass continuously whipped his flagella around and was an amazing sight to behold.

Figure1: Pinnularia Sp.       James Creswell

Figure 2: Euglena sp.       James Creswell

Figure 3: Anisonema sp.        James Creswell

Bibliography:
 Patterson, David J. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. New York: Wiley ;, 1996. 301.cited November 9, 2014. Print.

Abundant Activity

On Thursday, October 30, 2014, I was able to view my micro-aquarium for an extended period of time. After a rough week that included a death in the family that required out of state travel, and many missed lectures, this experience was a definite blessing in disguise. According to Dr. McFarland, on Friday October 24, 2014 a single pellet of Beta food was added to the aquarium. The pellets information is as follows,  "Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15% (McFarland, 2014).
I could see quite clearly that there was much more activity among the smaller organisms, which allowed greater opportunities to study many different species in the aquarium. The added pellet seemed to invoke energy into the small community that was not as active in weeks past. I also would like to note that there seemed to be items that looked like egg sacks that I had not observed before, as well as certain organisms being friendlier with one another, possibly mating, but both would be hard pressed for someone with limited training in this field such as myself to prove, but was intriguing none the less, to investigate. Some of the life activities that I was able to observe, as well as share with you today, were caught on video. This video was an absolute accident, but I am glad that I hit that wrong button now, because I can visually share my experience with the readers of this blog. After trimming the video down from thirty-five minutes into less than two, I believe you will still be able to understand why I considered this time a blessing.
The video includes six different organisms that are thriving in this habitat. The first is a transparent rotifer called a Euchlanis sp.(Pennak, 1989, fig.2, pg.171). Next is an amazing creature that creates a type of water vortex that pulls other organisms into its mouth, this creature is called a Stentor sp. (Patterson, 1996, fig. 214, pg.107). Third, is a Halteria sp.(Patterson, 1996, fig. 304, pg. 139). If you watch the video closely, you will see it jump very quickly from the left side to the right. This is accomplished by a burst of stored water in a vacuole. The fourth thing you will see in the video is an amoeba called a Difflugia sp. (Patterson, 1996, fig.188, pg.96). I followed this interesting character for some time, and was amazed at how it redirected itself. The fifth species that I captured on film reminds me of a little dragon. It is called a Chaetonotus sp.(Pennak, 1989, fig.7, pg.165). It hid for the longest time behind vegetation, but my persistence paid off in the end. The last organism that you will be introduced to in this video is a Euplotes sp.(Patterson, 1996, fig.260, pg. 124). This one reminded me of a crab because of the way that it walks under water, as opposed to swimming.
This was a unique experience and I am looking forward to the next.





Bibliography:

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [cited November 1, 2014]. Available from http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/

Patterson, David J. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. New York: Wiley ;, 1996. 301.cited November 1, 2014. Print.

 Pennak, Robert W. Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989.cited November 1, 2014. Print.

Identifying the movements

On Thursday, October 23rd, I had the opportunity to view my micro-aquarium through a microscope equipped with a camera. There were a couple of different organisms that I focused on throughout the span of time allotted for viewing. One turned out to be some type of rotifer, but still has not been 100% identified so I will concentrate on describing, in more detail, the organism that was dragging his home with him last week. With the help of the book, Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States, by Robert Pennak, on page 301, figure 11,example (f), and the shape of the posterior, I was able to identify this amazing creature (Pennak 1989). He is a Dero Furcatus sp.
When I initially began to scan the aquarium for him, I could not find him. When I had left him the week before, there was no denying where he was because he was so large, and so active, but while searching initially this week, nothing. While scanning I finally came across a branch that looked like what I had viewed the week prior and followed it out to the end expecting tho see the head that I had seen with a suction cup mouth, but instead I saw what seemed to be antennae. As I continued to view this guy, it became quite apparent that this was not the head. The length of the body is totally transparent so movement through the body can easily be observed. Excrement release became the clue I needed to look elsewhere for the head. After the dero had completed his private affair, he became as active as he had been the week before. Later on in my study of the dero, he became very still once again, so I decided to immediately examine the posterior side of the dero to see if there was any correlation between it being still and excreting waste. Sure enough, that is what was going on. He would stretch out straight to allow his body to work the waste down his tube body until it was exited. After the waste was excreted, he began to again move constantly looking for his next meal. One more thing that I observed, that I wanted to be sure to make mention of in this post is the fact that I have not seen the dero leave this home that he has carved out of the plant stem. I have observed him, on several occasions, become entangled in other vegetation. When this happens, he simply runs his head down the length of the stem, and pulls his tail through to the other end and goes on his merry way. (The head and tail together on one end of the stem can be seen in the top image below as he is making his rerouting transition.)

                               

Top: Dero turning around with anterior and posterior regions visible              Bottom: Posterior region used for identification             

Bibliography:

      Pennak, Robert W. Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989.cited October 25, 2014. Print.

Micro Aquarium Underway

This botany adventure got underway Wednesday, October 15, 2014. I began my project, that consists of creating a micro aquarium. The lab class began by choosing small glass aquariums, along with a base and a top. We then reviewed several area water sources that samples had been extracted from and were to choose from these options to fill our aquariums. I chose option #1. This particular sample was taken from Tommy Schumpart pond in Kodak, TN. The following is a description of the pond and actual location. " Tommy Schumpert Pond, Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge, Kelly Lane , Knox Co. Tennessee. Partial shade exposure Sheet runoff around sink hole. N35 57.256 W83 41.503 947 ft 10/10/2010."(McFarland, 2014)
The reason that I chose this particular option was not random by any means. I spent many summers on this property as a teenager camping and fishing before Knox County purchased it. As a young boy, I lived half a mile down the road from this pond at the dead end of Kelly Lane on the old family farm raising chickens, hogs, and watermelons that still produced well in the sandy soil near the river. The watermelons were a great asset to my great grandfather on this property during the great depression. It helped his family to barter and essentially get by. This project indeed takes me back to childhood memories.
Once I chose the sample to draw from for my particular aquarium, I then took some mud from the bottom of the sample. After adding an ample amount of mud to the bottom of the aquarium, I skimmed a little water from just above the mud line and another sample from the middle of the container. After filling the aquarium to an optimal level with the sample, I then added plants to the mix. The description of the plants added can be observed below the picture of my micro aquarium.







"Plants A and B added:
Plant A . Fontinalis sp. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/10/2010

Plant B. Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A carnivous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN." (McFarland, 2014).

After assembling my aquarium, I took a little time to view the contents under a microscope. It did not take long to see that my sample was full of life, with a number of different organisms that will make this project very interesting. There was one particular organism that had hollowed out a piece of plant material and was using it as his home. He would come out of "his home" and use his mouth as a suction cup against the glass of the aquarium to pull himself along. I spent most of my time watching his home, that he had chosen, get stuck in the surrounding plant environment, and his struggle to break free. In my next post, I hope to name this organism and give updates on his struggles.

Bibliography:

 McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [cited Oct 15, 2014]. Available from http://botany1112014.blogspot.com/