Observation #1

      It only took me about two or three minutes peering into the microscope to see that I had a multitude of cyclops in my MicroAquarium. Most of the cyclops that I was seeing had egg sacks attached to their abdomens. They were rapid in their movement, but would sometimes remain still for a few seconds. The cyclops has six pairs of swimming legs and sudden movements of their limbs shovel food towards their mouth.They seemed to enjoy being near plant material or digging in the soil. In fact, I saw five cyclops as I studied over the soil. While they were in the soil I was able to observe these sudden jerky movements of their limbs to feed themselves. As they dug into the soil, they were constantly shoveling food into their mouths.
      The cyclops has only one eye spot located at the head. It looks very similar to plankton and shrimp, therefore it is no surprise that it is in the crustacean family. With Dr. McFarland's help I was also able to identify an immature cyclops(Cyclops nauplius). This little guy moved very quickly, but fortunately I was able to get a decent shot of it. The body was very round and it had begun to form small antennas. I spotted this cyclops lower middle of the MicroAquarium near a plant material. I was able to identify these organisms on page 415 in Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States( source one in bibliography).

 

                                      
1.Pennak, Robert W. Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978. Print.

Setting up my MicroAquarium

1. I obtained a glass tank, stand holder and lid.(MicroAquarium).
2. I used a pipet to extract water from a container that contained water from the following water source:(Tommy Schumpert Pond, Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge, Kelly Lane , Knox Co. Tennessee. Partial shade exposure Sheet runoff around sink hole. N35 57.256 W83 41.503 947 ft 10/12/2014).
a. I extracted water from the bottom of the container and filled the MicroAquarium tank about 1/3 full.
b. I obtained the next 1/3 of water from the middle section of the tank.
c. I filled the rest of the tank with water from the surface of the container.
3. Lastly, I took a small strand from a plant and from a moss and put them into my MicroAquarium. The following information are their water sources and scientific names.
a. Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss.
Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/12/2014
b.Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A
carnivorous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler
Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN.
10/12/2014