Microaquarium Madness IV

Jacob Guillen
11/03/2011
Blog four

Before putting the micro aquarium under the microscope, I saw that the carnivorous Utricularia gibba L. plant  had all disappeared, except for the stalk at the bottom of the tank, whereas the Amblestegium moss remained unchanged from when it was placed on the left side of the aquarium. When I looked under the microscope, I was dismayed to discover that there were fewer organisms remaining than in the previous entry.   Furthermore, I found the exoskeleton remains of Halteria, Cyclops, and Seed Shrimps littering the entire aquarium. I would also like to clarify that the Vorticella organism was on the Amblestegium moss, rather than the Utricularia gibba L. plant. I sometimes on rare occasion, caught a glimpse of a scurrying Cyclops, or the bounding movement of a Seed Shrimp, however, there was still a dramatic decrease of these organisms overall. The only organism that showed no change in its population, was the Midge Larvae, which was now located around the stem of the Utricularia gibba L. plant. The Halteria and vorticella population also decreased, however, their   decrease was far less drastic than the other organisms. Despite the dropped population of these organisms, new organisms were discovered, and classified, most of which surprisingly appeared after the death of the Utricularia gibba L. plant. The first creature was spotted coming in and out of the decaying carnivorous plant, this was a nematode (unable to determine what genus it is quite yet), which appeared to be motile, as its movement was slowly erratic. Due to its constant interest in the stem of the Utricularia gibba L. plant, it is hypothesized that this nematode type  feeds particularly on dead or dying vegetation, as well as possibly living vegetation. Upon closer inspection, there were were organisms resembling Vorticella except larger. Despite its appearance, it was unrelated, instead it was a part of a different Phylum, called Rotifera, and its genus  is Philodina. It normally is motile, moving in bounds, however, within my aquarium, they seem to be content being sedentary on the  Utricularia gibba L. plant. Its diet consists of plankton and other small organisms that live within its environment. Interestingly enough, there is another organism of the same phylum, called Euchlanis, which is also motile, in both description and in my aquarium, at which it moved at a slow and steady pace while feeding on plankton. Although the  Spirillia algae was nowhere to be found, another algae, Oedogonium, was present. Also capable of photosynthesis, the Oedogonium may be another possible food source for many of the organisms in that environment. The conclusion that I reached, is that many of the decomposers began appearing shortly after the death of the carnivorous Utricularia gibba L. plant, along with smaller organisms, possibly taking advantage of the lack of a large predator, (besides the  Midge Larvae being the predator). My hypothesis for next week's observation,  is that more nematodes may appear, and the Philodina may finally become motile, like the Euchlanis organism.

Oedogonium Algae, Jacob Guillen

Nematode, Jacob Guillen 

Rotifera Euchlanis, Jacob Guillen

Rotifera Philodina, Jacob Guillen
Works Cited


Smith, Gilbert M. The Freshwater Algae of the United States, Second Edition. 1950.
Pennak, Robert W. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States, Protozoa to Molluska, Third Edition. 1989.