This week saddens me greatly. It is the last time I will be writing this blog and observing my MicroAquaruim. For the last observations of my MicroAquarium, my Rotifers did not greet me with there usual energy. The majority of them seem to be either sleeping, which I am not sure if they do, or they may be starved. The way they looked was rolled into balls in the corner where the food was (which has since completely disintegrated). As they were all huddled into this corner a few were spinning around. When they were fed a couple of weeks ago they had many babies and my population in the MicroAquarium had grown by leaps and bounds. When this population boom occurred the Rotifers devoured the food and now there is none.
The water was much more cloudy and filled with algae. The moss has grown tremendously since just last week and is currently grown out of the water towards the light. In the water, for some odd reason, there is a greater amount of air bubbles. Normally there would be one or two, but this week, there were six or more.
Last week I had mentioned the possibility of eggs in the upper corner, well this week they are still there, however they are not as many as last week. The concentration of larger rotifers is dwindling, while the little rotifer concentration is booming. More and more of the larger Rotifers have the “horn”. I am beginnining to wonder if maybe that is a stage of growth that they go through, because all the Rotifers I have witnessed this growth have been about the same size.
As the last week has came to an end I realized that I never wrote anything about the moss in my aquarium, so back to the library I went to research the moss. As I mentioned before it is Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. from a natural spring in fountain City Park, Knox County, Tennnessee, USA (more information is included in blog week 1). Amblystegium is a small genus of mosses that grow in moist places, with various substrate. The name was derived from the Greek amblys, “blunt: and stege “lid”. This refers to the nature of opercula. The stems of these mosses are creeping and irregularly branched. The leaves are spreading and when they are dried out they become erect. They have perfect peristomes with the outer teeth united basally. These teeth are yellow to orange in color with the inner teeth being yellowish.
I don’t have much more to say, besides this blog has been fun. I hope after reading it you know more about rotifers and have mental pictures from the journey.
~Resources~
Bodenberg, E. T.. Mosses: A New Approach to the Identification of Common Species. Minneapolis, Burgess Publishing Co. 1954.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Week 4
The fourth week came without my normal abnormal occurrences, which saddened me greatly. The Rotifers were “inch worming” around. There were, however more of the smaller rotifers and less larger rotifers. The smaller the size of the Rotifer is the less color it seems to have and the more it seems to antagonize the larger ones. I witnessed the one with the “horn” again. It was holding on to the glass, the cilli were going around, and it was contracting in and out. Another person in the class with me has seen this on their Rotifers, too, which makes me begin to think that maybe all Rotifers have the “horn” or maybe it is a different species. I also saw some spots that looked like rolled up rotifers. I think that maybe this is some rotifer eggs.
The majority of the Rotifers were concentrated near the food, which has almost disintegrated. The water in the MicroAquarium has become cloudy and is containing much more algae. I believe this is due to the food disintegrating.
The debris at the bottom of the aquarium has strands growing out of it and the moss seems to be growing towards the top (where the light is).
As I furthered my research this week I discovered many interesting new facts about the Rotifers. The rotifera has a more highly organized internal organs system than the most advanced protozoan. Most of the Rotifers have stomachs, in a previous week I was lucky enough to get to see one work. They have extensive diets. Most of the rotifers are filter-feeders. They eat bacteria, protests, suspended organic matter and even other rotifers. The filter-feeders are able to eat particles up to about the size of a small alga. The filter feeders can filter up to 1000 times their own body volume each hour. Sadly enough there is a large group of herbivores that eat these fascinating creatures.
The life cycle of the rotifer is generally parthenogentic. This means the egg develops with fertilization into a new individual identical to the mother. The fertilized eggs are developed into thick-walled resting areas. Species that are not entirely parthenogentic produce males only during a short period at a specific time during the year. The male rotifers may not be collected if samples are not taken frequently enough.
~Rescources~
Rainis, Kenneth G., and Bruce J. Russell. Guide to Mircolife. Danbury: Franklin Watts, 1996.
Garnett, W.J.. Freshwater Microscopy. London: Constable and Company Ltd., 1953.
Bronmark, Christer, and Lars-Anders Hanson. Biology of Lakes and Ponds. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
The majority of the Rotifers were concentrated near the food, which has almost disintegrated. The water in the MicroAquarium has become cloudy and is containing much more algae. I believe this is due to the food disintegrating.
The debris at the bottom of the aquarium has strands growing out of it and the moss seems to be growing towards the top (where the light is).
As I furthered my research this week I discovered many interesting new facts about the Rotifers. The rotifera has a more highly organized internal organs system than the most advanced protozoan. Most of the Rotifers have stomachs, in a previous week I was lucky enough to get to see one work. They have extensive diets. Most of the rotifers are filter-feeders. They eat bacteria, protests, suspended organic matter and even other rotifers. The filter-feeders are able to eat particles up to about the size of a small alga. The filter feeders can filter up to 1000 times their own body volume each hour. Sadly enough there is a large group of herbivores that eat these fascinating creatures.
The life cycle of the rotifer is generally parthenogentic. This means the egg develops with fertilization into a new individual identical to the mother. The fertilized eggs are developed into thick-walled resting areas. Species that are not entirely parthenogentic produce males only during a short period at a specific time during the year. The male rotifers may not be collected if samples are not taken frequently enough.
~Rescources~
Rainis, Kenneth G., and Bruce J. Russell. Guide to Mircolife. Danbury: Franklin Watts, 1996.
Garnett, W.J.. Freshwater Microscopy. London: Constable and Company Ltd., 1953.
Bronmark, Christer, and Lars-Anders Hanson. Biology of Lakes and Ponds. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Week 3
This week, week three, my Rotifers were acting abnormal. They were all gathered into one spot , with the exception of the food this was the only place they were concentrated. The location of the concentration was not near the edges, the debris, or the moss , it was just out there in the middle. At first when I began observing this concentration I thought that they may be eggs of the rotifers. As I continued to watch them closely I began to see movement and at different times the round Rotifer looking objects I saw began to stretch out at different times, and then roll back up. I am not sure why they were doing this. At times I saw small Rotifers, looking like they were instigating them. They would come and bump into them as if on purpose, it was really quite interesting. I plan to attempt to find a reason for this action of the Rotifers in my MicroAquarium.
Many rotifers were also concentrated around the edges and around the food. In the corner of the aquarium, they were so dense you could see a orangish color with your naked eye. Around the moss there were many of the little Rotifers. The larger Rotifers seemed to be just sitting around. They had their feet hooked to the glass and they were stretched out all the way and the cilia was going around rather quickly, however the smaller ones were just swimming around and not controlling this action.
The moss seems to be changing some, but not much. It has some small clear strands growing out of the moss, I am not sure why this is occurring or why they are clear. The Debris looks as if it has something growing out of it, I will keep a eye on it and try to determine more in further weeks.
This week in my research, I have discovered many new things about the life of the Rotifers. The Rotifers are multicelular, however they are composed of a relatively small number of cells. Rotifers are also known as “wheel animalcules”. They were first observed by Anton van Leeuvenhoek in 1675. This occurred during his observations of the microscopic inhabitations of water. The Rotifers are found in nearly every body of fresh water. This fresh water includes, but is not limited to, in tiny temporary puddles, in rivers and swamps, and in the largest lakes. They are less encountered in the sea and in marine situations. They appear (as of known in 1955) to be confined to costal regions reaching their abundance in brackish waters. A few species are parasitic, however most species of Rotifers are free-living. The Rotifers, Philodinidae, can be dried up often and even survive through long droughts. Through these long droughts they are able to keep life going at such a low rate that they can survive and resume their normal living after the drought is over. They can even regain their activity after being frozen into the ice for a long period.
~Resources~
Davis, Charles C. The Marine and Fresh-water plankton.. Michigan State University, 1955.
Morgan, Ann Haven Ph.D. Field Book of Ponds and Streams: An Introduction to the Life of Fresh Water. New York & London: G.P. Putnam’s sons The Knicherbarker press, 1930.
Many rotifers were also concentrated around the edges and around the food. In the corner of the aquarium, they were so dense you could see a orangish color with your naked eye. Around the moss there were many of the little Rotifers. The larger Rotifers seemed to be just sitting around. They had their feet hooked to the glass and they were stretched out all the way and the cilia was going around rather quickly, however the smaller ones were just swimming around and not controlling this action.
The moss seems to be changing some, but not much. It has some small clear strands growing out of the moss, I am not sure why this is occurring or why they are clear. The Debris looks as if it has something growing out of it, I will keep a eye on it and try to determine more in further weeks.
This week in my research, I have discovered many new things about the life of the Rotifers. The Rotifers are multicelular, however they are composed of a relatively small number of cells. Rotifers are also known as “wheel animalcules”. They were first observed by Anton van Leeuvenhoek in 1675. This occurred during his observations of the microscopic inhabitations of water. The Rotifers are found in nearly every body of fresh water. This fresh water includes, but is not limited to, in tiny temporary puddles, in rivers and swamps, and in the largest lakes. They are less encountered in the sea and in marine situations. They appear (as of known in 1955) to be confined to costal regions reaching their abundance in brackish waters. A few species are parasitic, however most species of Rotifers are free-living. The Rotifers, Philodinidae, can be dried up often and even survive through long droughts. Through these long droughts they are able to keep life going at such a low rate that they can survive and resume their normal living after the drought is over. They can even regain their activity after being frozen into the ice for a long period.
~Resources~
Davis, Charles C. The Marine and Fresh-water plankton.. Michigan State University, 1955.
Morgan, Ann Haven Ph.D. Field Book of Ponds and Streams: An Introduction to the Life of Fresh Water. New York & London: G.P. Putnam’s sons The Knicherbarker press, 1930.
Week 2 food
The previous week (week 2), I mentioned that I had added food for the Rotifers , and any other organism that may be living in the MicroAquarium. The Food in which I had mentioned was put into the tank on Thursday October 25, 2007. It received two pellets of “Atison’s Beta Food”. It is made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, located at 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. The ingredients in the fish food are as follows; Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. The analysis is as follows; Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%. Sorry this was not included into week two’s entry.
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