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.