Botany 111 Term Project: Microaquarium

Lucas Hietala, Section 002, Lucas I.Wb. H,

Post 4: Observation 3

    Desolation. This word above all others describes the state of the MicroAquarium™, as observed on Wednesday, November 6, 2013. In comparison to the other observations, the aquarium was nearly empty, littered with the husks of diatoms and cast off shells of cyclops. The reason for this unprecedented die-off is as of yet unknown.

   The water level in the aquarium was increased from the last time it was observed, and it is speculated the more water was added during the time where the aquarium was unobserved. The quality of this water is unknown, and it could be proposed that impurities or other elements in the water added could be responsible for the destruction of micro life.The food pellet placed in the aquarium on October 25, 2013 had not completely dissolved when last observed, but appeared instead as a ring of fibers and tapioca-colored detritus. Most of the activity observed in the aquarium focused around this ring of food particles, largely consisting of tiny rotifers, which swam in and out of the outer layer of the ring.

   The necrotic lesions on the A. varium that have been previously recorded are receding from the top end of the plant, and have not further spread from the bottom toward the living top. The reason for this is unknown, though it could be suspected that the plant has had enough time to recover from the trauma of being pulled from its origin that it has begun not only to heal but to repair and grow once more. No significant change was noted in the appearance of the Fontalis sp., though the U. gibba seems not only to be surviving, but has grown approximately five (5) new bladders where it can collect food in the form of prey. Reasons for this growth are unknown, and it seems unlikely that the U. gibba's success and growth has any appreciable role in the reduction in the number of living organisms in the aquarium.

   Of the organisms previously mentioned, many were not observed during this period, and are presumed dead or in hiding. A single Verticella sp. was noted, clinging doggedly to a piece of the soil substrate at the bottom of the aquarium, though no others were in evidence in the locations that they were previously numerous. Of the many different cyclops species, which have not yet been identified and may now not be, one one adult and a single sub-adult were recorded. The Aeolosoma sp. was similarly not found, even after extensive searching of the aquarium, and is presumed to be either dead or in hiding in the soil. 

   New organisms were observed, however. An abundance of (or at least a noticeable number) of Euchlanis sp. were seen to be moving about the aquarium, especially in the open middle ground and around the remaining ring of food at the top of the tank (Donner, 1956). These organisms are elegant in motion, with a roughly coin-shaped body and a short, stinger-like protrusion on their posterior ends. They move together in loose clouds in a complex and oddly beautiful pattern, and in the empty fields of shining diatom husks, it looks almost as though they are the microscopic equivalent of fairies, dancing amongst the tombstones of the dead.

   A seed flea (Ostacod sp.) has also graced this aquarium (Rainis, 1996). Alien in form and movement, this tiny crustacean looks like a semi-translucent pill or capsule, save that from the anterior end, four whisk-like legs whir and twitch busily, propelling the creature about its environment with astonishing speed and maneuverability. It does indeed look like a cross between a seed and a flea, and it is easy to understand from whence its name comes. However, with the rapidity of its movement and the odd casing in which it lives, it more resembles a futuristic spacecraft than a living organism. 

   It should be added that on a personal note, I find this lack of living organisms in the aquarium that I'm working on to be disheartening and confusing. In comparison to the wealth and abundance of life of all kinds that was present as little as a week before this observation, it seems bleak and empty now. I don't know why this is, and I have no idea what could have caused such amazing destruction in such a small and easily controlled and monitored environment. I fear that by the end of the week, if this trend continues, no living organisms other than the plants will be visible.

Bibliography

Donner, Josef, Rotifers. (Edition unknown). Frederick Warne & Co Ltd, London, England. 1956.

Rainis, Kenneth G. and Bruce J Russell, Guide to Microlife. 2nd Edition. Franklin Watts Publishing, Connecticut. 1996. 287 pages.