2nd observation

During my second observation this week I had a lot of interesting finds. I found new organisms as well as more of the organisms that I had previously seen. During the first observation, I had identified some organisms as cladocerans also known as waters fleas. Dr. McFarland corrected me and identified them as being rotifers. There were 2 different rotifers identified during my observation. They were lecane and synchaeta rotifers. The synchaeta rotifers were similar to the lecane except they had 2 arms coming from the side of them, but their movements were the same.
While observing the different organisms, Dr. McFarland discovered stylaria annelid buried in the muck at the bottom of the aquarium. The annelid was identified as a stylaria by the shape of the head going into a point. I presumed that the annelid was eating by the contracting of the stomach.
The organism that I found most interesting was the vorticella I discovered attached to the stem of plant B. This organism is bell shaped with small cilia coming from its head. It also has a fibril that keeps it attached to objects. I noticed that the slightest bit of movement to the microscope the vorticella would coil up and then straighten back out.
Before leaving the lab I placed 1 Beta pellet was added as well as more water.

I was given pieces of glass sealed together on 3 sides a base and a lid to build my microaquarium. I used water number 7 which was from the pond at the University of Tennessee Hospital. The water had "muck" in it which i placed a thin layer along the bottom of the aquarium. After the bottom of the aquarium was filled, i then filled the rest of the aquarium up about a half an inch below the top. Once the microaquarium was filled with water i placed 2 different plants in it, plant A and plant B. Once the aquarium was set up i look at the plants and animals through a microscope. I discovered several single cell organisms floating in the water. I discovered several water fleas in the water. One of the water fleas was black and looked like a flea on a dog and was visible by the naked eye. The flea moved about like a spider. The other fleas were transparent looking and had 2 antenas on the end of them. I didn't actually see the transparent fleas move so i don't know what their motion was like, but i would assume that it is the same as the other water flea i discovered.