Friday, October 20, 2011 Observations

On the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 20 the first noticeable change in my microaquarium was that there was significantly less water fron Spring Creek at Dean's Woods (http://botany1112011.blogspot.com/). I observed several organisms. I believe there were many protazoa, ciliates called coleps, they tended to congregate inside the shell of a dead cyclops (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html). The arthropod cyclops, which is a member of the group crustacea, sub group cyclopoida and sub class copepoda (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html ).There were two of these living and one corpse. The moved very quickly. The next thing I noticed was a diatom, asterionella (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html). It didn't seem to move at all. There was also a desmid, Closterium costatum (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html). This didn't seem to move either. Judging from a poster in the lab, I believed I found a midge, however, after looking for it I'm not sure if it is mosquito larva or caddisfly larva (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html). At first I saw it clinging to a branch, but it was hard to view it becasue it seemed to be inside the branch and it would pop out every now and then. When I saw the caddisfly larva that makes a shelter I thought that might be what it is. I found another thing that I thought was also a midge that was in the soil at the bottom of the aquarium, it also popped in and out of the soil similarly to the one on the branch. There was also another protazoa, the amoeba paramecium (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html). I also found the ciliate suctoria, there were several of these attached to the plants and i think even the glass http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/pond/index.html).