My Omnipotence: Week 5 (Revelation)

     This week I viewed my MicroAquarium™ for the last time. It was relatively less active than the previous viewing but still active enough to spot life almost anywhere. I spotted many of the organisms identified in past blog entries before coming across the protozoa in Figure 1.

 Figure 1: Photo of Notosolenus sp. taken during movement. 

Note the prominent anterior flagella. (Lee, 1985)

 Figure 2: Short animation taken from video of Notosolenus sp.

 (Lee, 1985)

 

Video 1: Digital video of Notosolenus sp. (Lee, 1985)

     I eventually identified the organism as the genus Notosolenus. (Lee, 1985) Some characteristics that helped with identification were the colorless appearance, egg-shaped body, and the presence of two flagella. Both flagella were positioned anteriorly on the organism but only one was clearly visible. The second shorter flagella was dragged alongside its body providing stabilization. (Lee, 1985) The primary flagella thrashed in all directions like an out of control fire hose. I first assumed the round structures inside the body (as seen in Figure 2) were organelles. I later learned that this genus was colorless and most organelles were unable to be viewed with a compound light microscope. (Lee, 1985) I hypothesized that the greenish spots inside of the body were algae consumed by the organism via phagocytosis. This was a gluttonous protozoa.

 

My Omnipotence: Week 4

     I revisited my MicroAquarium™ on 11/06/2013. I was able to spend a great deal of time analyzing my MicroAquarium™ with the compound light microscope and recording my findings with digital video equipment. This was the most "active" viewing period experienced so far. I feel this was due to a combination of the added food source and my growing competence with the microscope and digital recording equipment. I was able to spot life in almost every area of my MicroAquarium™. I was also able to see small organisms darting through the water without the aide of magnification. 

 Figure 1: Photo of Euchlanis sp. captured during 

movement while feeding in an open area of the  

MicroAquarium™ (Pennak, 1953)

     I viewed many of these larger organisms and identified them as Euchlanis sp. (Pennak, 1953) After researching this organism I can confidently say that it is the adult form of the unknown organism I documented in Week 2. I learned Euchlanis is the genus for all rotifers. (Pennak, 1953) These organisms appeared more complex than most of their peers. They had two "tails" on their posterior that they often pulled together so that it looked like one large structure. (as seen in Figure 1) Many different organs were visible through their transparent bodies. One feature unique with rotifers are a circle of cilia at their anterior end which create a current that is used to funnel food into their mouths. (Davidson, 1998) Once the food enters their mouth it's crushed by an anatomical device called a mastax which is basically a spiked pharynx from hell. I watched the Euchlanis sp. consume anything within proximity that was able to physically fit into their mouths. (as seen in Video 2) They appeared in greater numbers around vegetation such as Fontinalis sp. (Mcfarland, 2013) The appetite of the Euchlanis sp. is insatiable; I found one with both of its "tails" wedged tightly in branching vegetation and it continued to eat everything around it while being minimally phased by its presumable death sentence. (as seen in Video 3)

 

 Video 1: Footage of Euchlanis sp. consuming debris and 

moving rapidly in an open area of the MicroAquarium™

  (Pennak, 1953)

Video 2: Footage of Euchlanis sp. feeding on and around 

the vegetation Fontinalis sp. (Pennak, 1953)

Video 3: Footage of Euchlanis sp. stuck on the vegetation  

Fontinalis sp. but still taking time to consume particles

and debris within its proximity. (Pennak, 1953)

     Another interesting organism I found and later identified was the Difflugia sp. (Patterson, 1996) This organism belongs to a major group of amoeboid protozoa in the kingdom protista. Most of the time these organisms are found to be heterotrophs and use pseudopods to move around and capture prey. 

 Figure 2: Photo of Difflugia sp. (Patterson, 1996) Note the 

silica like outer shell and irregular shape. 

     If you look closely at the included footage you can see the near transparent pseudopods used to push and pull the organism in different directions. What makes this amoeboid so interesting (in my humble opinion) is how it builds its exterior shell. When I first spotted this organism I honestly thought it was some bizarre or damaged diatom. This was due to what looked like a hard silica shell-like outer layer. It wasn't organized and symmetrical like the diatoms I'd previously documented, instead the outer shell was chaotic and random. I learned that this outer shell is created by the Difflugia sp. using particles gained from its environment or prey. (Patterson, 1996) For example, they consume diatoms and use the silica particles for their shell. This type of shell is referred to as being agglutinate. Amazingly, many Difflugia select particles of certain size and shape and construct a species specific shell. That blows my mind.  

 

 

Video 4: Footage of Difflugia sp. using pseudopods to 

grab and pull itself to a piece of debris. (Patterson, 1996)

 Video 5: Additional footage of Difflugia sp. using 

pseudopods near debris. (Patterson, 1996)

     That's all for now. I will be spending more time observing my MicroAquarium™ this week, so stay tuned for another update. I recently checked my hit counter for this blog and was extremely disappointed. I was expecting hundreds of thousands, if not millions of unique visitors per day and the reality of the data hit me like a ton of bricks; seven unique visitors and 120+ total hits. After days of deep depression I've come to terms with my popularity (or lack thereof) and decided that blog views are not about quantity but quality. Who needs millions of views from ordinary people when I'm graced with the quality blog hits of exceptional people like you?

My Omnipotence: Week 3

     I spent some time viewing my MicroAquarium™ on 10/30/2013. My lab instructor added one beta food pellet on to my MicroAquarium™ on 10/25/2013. (McFarland, 2013) The following is detailed information on the food source added:

"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, 2013)

      I noticed more activity since the last viewing; the majority of which appeared to be new organisms. The beta food pellet had disintegrated a great deal and was spread thinly around the left side of the MicroAquarium™. Organism activity was greatest around this area. I was unable to locate the diatom Surirella oblonga that was identified the previous week. (Prescott, 1954) 

     However, it was difficult to navigate anywhere inside the MicroAquarium™ without spotting a quick moving circular organism that I eventually identified as Anisonema sp. (Patterson, 1996) This organism could be found almost everywhere inside the aquarium but was concentrated in the area of the food pellet. (as seen in Figure 1) This organism didn't have any visible orifice and I didn't observe it eat. However, it was found in higher volume around the beta pellet and plant life. They moved in a very "choppy" or "clumsy" fashion. I focused on watching their movement and one of things I noticed was their ability to "pop" into different directions, including reverse, at any given time. (as seen in Video 1 and Video 2) This odd movement helped identify the organism. The identification guide stated that Anisonema sp. can be distinguished by their jerky movement and ability to contract backwards. (Patterson, 1996) 

Figure 1: Digital photograph of Anisonema sp. (Patterson, 1996)

 Video 1: Digital video of single Anisonema sp. (Patterson, 1996)

 

 Video 2: Digital video of multiple Anisonema sp. (Patterson, 1996)

     I learned that this unique movement was due to the flagella used for movement. A smaller and twisted anterior flagella flails around like a crazy propeller while a larger recurrent flagella stabilizes the organism and helps steer it. This organism was multicellular, motile, and displayed bilateral symmetry.