My Omnipotence: Week 2

On 10/23/2013 I returned to the lab and spent over two hours viewing my creation. I started by briefly viewing my MicroAquarium™ with the compound light microscope. This allowed me to compare my findings with the previous session in which I used only a compound light microscope. I quickly realized it was much more difficult to find a noticeable living organism. It seemed like everything "settled" over the course of the previous week. I noticed movement near and under the surface of the debris on the bottom. I then moved to a compound microscope with digital video recording capabilities. 

This microscope was able to produce a more clear and vibrant viewing experience than the previous compound microscope. However, there was a learning curve. The digital setup in lab requires the user to locate an organism via live image on a monitor and then switch the source of the monitor to a PC so that the user may gain control of the recording software and engage the recording process. During the few seconds of this transition a fast moving organism will have moved out of the microscopes field of view. THIS. WAS. FRUSTRATING. I was able to capture one of the fast moving organisms as seen in Figure 2 but was unable to identify it; I will work on this and report back next week. 

A great deal of my time was spent positively identifying the organism Surirella oblonga as seen in Figure 1. I found him after slowly scanning the MicroAquarium™ from left to right. As you will see in Video 1, this organism moved slowly and smoothly. This organism appeared to be gliding along with the slight current of the water, but this was disproved when it stopped completely at times and even changed direction. I hypothesized that the organism was taking water in one orifice and expelling in out of another to create propulsion. After researching diatoms and their movement I have discovered my hypothesis was likely incorrect. This diatom probably moves with tiny flagella that are unable to be captured with the equipment at hand. Notice the "cigar" shape and bilateral symmetry.

Figure 1: Digital photograph of Surirella oblonga. (Prescott, 1954)

Video 1: Digital video of Surirella oblonga. (Prescott, 1954)

I went through many books before I was able to positively identify this diatom. I was able to positively identify the organism as Surirella oblonga Ehrenberg with the book "How to Know the Freshwater Algae". (Prescott, 1954) I narrowed the search first visually then by more specific detail. I found a few diatoms with the cigar shape of mine but only one that fit the description perfect. The dead giveaway was the unique transparent linear area running through the center of this organism. This diatom is a non-green algae.

Here is a photo and brief video of the unidentified multi-cellular organism that I captured. There were many of these in my MicroAquarium™ but they were all very active. They also appear to dislike the light output from the microscope. This could be why I found these organisms near the debris in the bottom of the MicroAquarium™.

Figure 2: Digital photograph of unidentified organism.

Video 2: Digital video of unidentified organism. 

My Omnipotence: Week 1

On 10/16/2013 I created my own MicroAquarium™. I started with a clean MicroAquarium™ and first applied a series of identification tags to the upper right corner. These identifications will allow me to distinguish my MicroAquarium™ from the plethora of others that surround it. I was allowed to choose from 12 different water sources collected by our lab professor. I selected water source sample #7. The details of this water sample are listed below:

Third Creek at Tyson Park. Knox Co. Knoxville TN Partial shade exposure. N30 57 13.53 W83 56 32.37 824 ft. 10/14/2013 (Mcfarland, 2013)

 I used a pipette to suction samples from the bottom, middle, and surface of water source sample #7. I then carefully added this suctioned water to my MicroAquarium™ until it was about 1/3 inch from the top. One settled, my MicroAquarium™ had a few cm of debris on the bottom and the remaining water above was relatively clear. 

I then added two mosses and one plant. The details of each are listed below:

 Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/13/2013
(Mcfarland, 2013)

Fontinalis sp. Moss.  Collected from: Holston River along John Sevier Hwy under I 40 Bridge Partial shade exposure Holston River water Shed N36 00.527 W83 49.549 823 ft 10/13/2013
(Mcfarland, 2013)

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. 10/13/2013
(Mcfarland, 2013)

Small portions of vegetation were clipped and then directly submerged into the MicroAquarium™.

I immediately placed the MicroAquarium™ onto the stage of a compound microscope and searched my new ecosystem at 40x. I found multiple organisms of similar species. They had one "eye" centered on their head and used a tail-like structure to move at a surprisingly quick pace. They had four "tentacle" structures protruding from around their heads. I'm not sure if these help with movement or assisted with sensory or eating. They had a vibrant purple core that was visible through their bodies. They appeared to be feeding on the debris at the bottom of the tank. As they consumed particles around them you could see small dots of purple travel from their mouth area to the centralized purple core visible in their bodies. It was crazy.

I will continue to monitor my MicroAquarium™ on a weekly basis. My findings will be posted to this blog along with photos and possibly videos. I feel more and more powerful as the days go by.

Bibliography

 Bibliography

McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2013. [cited Oct 28 2013]. Available from http://botany1112013.blogspot.com/

Davidson M. 1998. Euchlanis Rotifer [Internet]. Tallahassee(FL):Florida State University; [2003 Aug 01, cited 2013 Nov 08] . Available from: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/techniques/dic/dicgallery/euchlanissmall.html

Prescott G.W. 1954. How to Know the Freshwater Algae. 1st ed. Dubuque (IA): WM. C. Brown Company 211 p.

Patterson D. 1996. Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide. New York (NY): Wiley 223 p.

Pennak, Robert W. 1953. Fresh Water Invertebrates of the United States. New York (NY): Ronald Press Co 769 p.

Lee, J. 1985. Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa. Lawrence (KS): Society of Protozoologists 629 p.