4th Observation

11/07/08

Returned in search for the giant worm (Midge). Sweeped the entire MicroAquirium with the microscope and the naked eye and spotted its head once poking out of the soil on the bottom but after watchin it for a couple of minutes it decided to go back under and didn't come out again for the entire time I was in there observing. Spotted a Copepod, very exciting because I realized that in a previous post I mistakingly classified an organism as a Rotifer when in fact it is indeed a Copepod. I'll have to hopefully find and take a picture of the Rotifer so that I may compare the two organisms. No dead Ostracods or other dead organisms but plently of life and activity. Spotted several Ostracods with the naked eye just floating around, observed them feeding on one of the plants and burrowing in the soil at the bottom of the MicroAquirium. On an interesting side note my MicroAquirium has for as long as I can remember had a minor crack running from the side to about a third of the way in and I may now know how it got there. The reason being that today I added to that crack by foolishly searching for protista and zooming to close and have as a resuly successfuly doubled its size. I freaked out for a second, Im not going to lie and thought for a bit that I had just gotten a zero for my mistake but the MicroAquirium is still in one piece and though it did leak a little bit of water it has completely stopped leaking and it seems that itll stay intact. I cautiously observed the MicroAquirium afterwards and observed that life seemed to still be going as usual except for the slight loss of water. It was not all bad however and did find one of my preys, the protista which Dr. MacFarland has helped my identify as TACHYSOMA. Found it in the book, "Free-living Freshwater Protozoa/A color Guide, on p. 125 Figure 265. Author is D.J. Patterson S. Hedley. Will go in at least twice more next week in an attempt to photograph both the Midge and the Protozoa. Hopefully there will still be something to observe next week.