Week 2

Today, October 23, I spotted multiple organisms in my microaquarium. The first thing I noticed was a cyanobacteria. This cyanobacteria was large, star shaped, black in color, and made of a conglomerate of bacteria slightly spread apart (Fig. 1).

                                          Fig. 1 A gloeotrichia cyanobacterium.

 This organism turned out to be a gloeotrichia cyanabacterium (Prescott 1951). Near this gloeotrichia, I noticed a translucent blob moving around in a manner I would call aggressive floating facilitated by flagella. This organism, found around the middle of the aquarium, turned out to be a rodifer (Pennak 1989). The bottom of the tank held a very large diptera larva with a distinct head (Fig. 2), developing legs, and a tentacle-like tail (Fig. 3) (Rainis 1996).

                                          Fig. 2 This image shows the head and developing front                                                                                            leg of a young diptera larva.

                                          Fig. 3 This image shows the tail and developing feet of                                                                                             a diptera larva.

 The larva moved fast and sharply and wriggled around eating whatever it could. This organism is translucent under the microscope but is large enough to be seen with the naked eye. I noticed very few green photosynthetic organisms and my aquarium seemed slightly more dull overall.