Second Posting Day

     October 22, 2014

      Alright then. Today- rather, tonight- I went to the lab for the first time to the lab where our projects are being kept. It took somewhere around two hours, but I did end up with results. As usual, the water source is as follows: Water pool below spring. Fountain City Park west of Broadway at Hotel Ave. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Full shade exposure Spring Feed Pond N36 02.253 W83 55.986 990 ft 10/12/2014. I haven't, as of yet, added extra water to my Micro Aquarium. That will hopefully occur next week. 
           There were quite a bit of carcasses in my Micro Aquarium of many and varied organisms. To think, in only a week... So many organisms lived and died. It's a bit surreal. Even so, I saw a fair few organisms moving in the Micro Aquarium, and I managed to nab a few images. What follows is a list of the organisms I managed to photograph and a bit of information on them. Just a notice, I'll probably be updating this at some point before the actual deadline with some information from the Web.

1. This one is an Urocentrum. This little guy likes to spin around, making it look like a toy top. Ken McFarland helped me identify this one, who we found in Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide by D.J. Patterson on page 184. I've seen at least three of these organisms, but I'm not quite sure if I'm counting correctly due to the fact these guys move FAST. 

2. Litonotous Cygnus was found inside my Micro Aquarium as well. This skinny fellow was identified in the same book as the Urocentrum, Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide by D.J. Patterson. However, this one was on page 132. It moved very swiftly and fluidly, and was difficult to snap a clear photo of. I spotted two L. Cygnus, at least. 

3. This one looked like something out of my nightmares. The organism wasn't positively identified, but Mr. McFarland theorizes that it could be a Philodina Rotifier, in some early stage or constricted by the environment of the Micro Aquarium. It actually looks somewhat similar to the aforementioned organism, but it did not once reveal the rotating sections that characterize a Rotifier during observation. I'll be interested to attempt finding this one again... If I can get over the fact that this organism looks like a tiny dinosaur. This guy moved around fairly actively, seemingly moving by himself. This is the only one that I spotted. 

4. This is an actual Philodena Rotifier, more specifically a Philodena sp. Above are shown when the "rotifers" are out, and when they are retracted as a comparison of the two. This was the only one of it's type (confirmed, at least) that I spotted. It was identified by Mr. McFarland. The "rotifers" moved a bit like a helicopter blade might when flattened, but the actual organism didn't do much moving. 

 5. I was honestly focusing on another organism when Mr. McFarland took a look through the camera screen and spotted this. Apparently, it's a type of algae. It was found in the Handbook of Algae on page 283, written by Herman Silva Frost. I'm glad I got a plant in there, as this class is technically supposed to be about them... I wonder if more will grow in my Micro Aquarium by next week. That would be intriguing, as this was the only one I spotted specifically. 

Anyways... That was about the extent of my first visit to Lab Room 507. I'm hoping to find different organisms as well as changes to the ones currently next week. So far, though, this is shaping up to be a very intriguing experiment.