Week 5 Observation

            This week I made my observations on November 13, 2013. This week there was even less activity than the week before. I noticed this week that there was a narrow threadlike organism that was all over the aquarium. At first glance this organism looks to be clear but adjustments allow you to view a moving nuclei throughout. Dr. MacFarland told me that he had seen it but was not yet able to identify the organism. He was able to inform me that the organism is coenocytic meaning that it is one continuous cell with many nuclei that is typical of slime molds. If you follow the threads to the end of the organism, you are able to watch it grow.

            A new organism I viewed was something that looked like a type of amoeba and seemed to be attached to the thread like structure. For the most part this organism did not move but would occasionally make an extension from round to oval and then contract back to a motionless ball.

            One thing that immediately stuck out to me was all of the debris casings that were left behind by the annelids. The dero and chaetogasters that were present have vanished and left empty debris tubes scattered throughout the aquarium. Upon further observation I was unable to find the corpses of the annelids and must assume they have decomposed or been eaten.

            Another thing I noticed this week about me aquarium was a large organism jerking around quickly. The organism was about half a centimeter and I noticed it before I even made it to a microscope. Upon further observation, I was able to identify the organism as an insect larva, but a different one from last weeks. This one was more transparent but had two visible eyespots. I was unable to capture a good picture of this organism because it stayed hidden on a dark leaf.