For the love of midges.

The week after the initial setup of the MicroAquarium was a stressful one for my little ecosystem. The beautiful verdigris sheen of the Myriophyllum Spicatum (McFarland, 2012) had faded to a blotchy green and brown patina, the feathers from which the plant derives its common name (Parrot Feather) were developing chlorosis.

Chlorosis on Myriophyllum Spicatum

This was accompanied by what can only be described as either patches of detritus or possibly eggs of some unknown organism appearing in the petiole region of the branch. It seemed that helping the chlorosis along (or possibly cleaning up after it) were several copepods (poster on the wall in Rm. 202, unknown origin).

Groupings of "eggs" or perhaps just debris on Myriophyllum Spicatum

The copepods were best described (as I was unable to capture a picture of one) as oval in shape with long tails protruding from invaginations in their outer surface. I thought that I had seen them use their tails as a sort of anchor while they fed on plants, but Dr. McFarland told me that what I witnessed was not their typical behavior, so it is entirely possible that what I saw was a different organism. What I will attempt to do in next week's viewing of the MicroAquarium is try to specifically find some copepods and observe/film them.

Midges. What strange organisms they are. They remind me of the Saturn Sandworms in Beetlejuice.

Saturn Sandworms in BeetleJuice

Midge in my MicroAquarium (Identified by Ken McFarland)

The midges, which I was able to observe at least two of, are structured like horrible, nightmarish worms. They look like a robotic worm constructed of out of crystals in a laboratory that has escaped and is wreaking havoc upon MicroAquariums everywhere.
The head of the midge has two huge proboscises which are retractable, and are somewhat like antennae in an insect in that they appear to probe the immediate environment, apparently (and empirically) to find sustenance for the midge. I observed that once the antennae have found something edible, the midge then inhales it. Its insides seem to consist of a large tube that turns food into energy for the midge to do its favorite thing, which is to flap about wildly and occasionally eat its own tail (I am not kidding, I watched these things eat their own tails a lot.) In the photo below, the food can be seen churning about in a green and brown mass in the gut.

Detail of midge gut

The midge also has two little retractable legs at the front of the body, close to the head, and two in the rear that are not retractable. The midge can move by flopping around or by pulling itself with its front legs. It should also be noted that the midge can be seen with the naked eye, as they are about 1-2mm long .

Detail of dying bladders on Utricularia gibba

Most disappointing was the apparent beginning of the death of the bladderwort (Utricularia gibba) (Mcfarland, 2012). Dr. McFarland had said this was happening when we first put them into the MicroAquariums, but I guess maybe I didn't want to face facts. As seen in the picture above, the bladders have changed color from a beautiful blue/black to a rather bland brownish green. In the bladders that had dropped off of the plant to the sediment at the bottom of the tank, I could see some sad little microorganisms that were trying to get out, all to no avail.

Necrotic spots on Amblestegium Sp.

The above photo shows some necrotic lesions beginning to form on the Amblestegium Sp. (McFarland, 2012). In addition to the necrosis, this plant seems to be in the same shape as the others; there is lots of accumulated debris in the tank, especially on the plants. As I said before, I am not sure whether this debris is eggs, waste products from organisms, or both- further investigation is obviously required. 

While the tank seems to be supplanting some of its green with the encroaching brown of the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Evert and Eichhorn, 2013), it is gaining some other colors in the form of cyanobacteria (McFarland, 2012). I was shown a lovely patch of purpley/bluish cyanobacteria by Dr. McFarland, and I have to say it looks like a brain in structure; a balled up mass of closely knit cells. I regret to say I have no pictures of it. 

This coming week brings hope of being able to use the school's high powered camera and post the images/videos here on my blog. I want to also be able to cite the identifications of some of these organisms and give a little information about them as well. Til next time...

Bibliography:

1. McFarland, Ken [Internet]. Botany 111 Fall 2012; 2012. [cited October 2012] Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/

2. Evert, Ray F. and Eichhorn, Susan E. 2013. Raven Biology of Plants 8th Edition W.H. Freeman and Company

3. Poster on the wall in Room 202. (I will get more info when I go back- didn't think about citing a poster...)

In the beginning...

...there was life. Inside a tiny aquarium. Comprised of two sheets of glass and some silicone.

Ok, enough nonsense. This past Wednesday, our lab class set up Microaquariums (Microaquarii?). These are basically aquariums for the study of microscopic organisms, and while I stupidly thought that we'd be receiving a 5 gallon aquarium with some Neon Tetras, it turns out that you need to be able to stick this thing onto a microscope stage (which probably doesn't work so well with a 5 gallon aquarium).

The way that we did this was to:

1.      Obtain a MicroAquarium™.  It will have a glass tank, a stand holder and lid.
2.      Using the color dots provided, code your tank as follows.
a.       On the left hand side edge, place three colored dots in a vertical column as follows
                                                              i.      The top dot will be the color designated for your lab section.
                                                            ii.      The second dot will indicate the table you sit at during lab.
                                                          iii.      The third dot will be the seat number at your table.
b.      Now write your initials on the three colored dots.
3.      Using a pipette, extract water from one of the containers on the lab bench or from water sources in the greenhouse or from the extraction you have created.
a.       Extract enough water from the bottom of the container to fill the MicroAquarium™ tank about 1/3 full.
b.      Extract the next 1/3 of water for your tank from the middle layer.
c.       Then fill the rest of your tank with water from the surface.
4.      Place your tank in its stand, then decorate it with some plant parts or mosses or other objects provided. 

I chose water from the pond at the UT Hospital, which is apparently some sort of storm sewer sediment pond. The reason I chose it was because Dr. McFarland said that it had been treated with copper sulfate (an algacide) , giving it a bluish cast, yet it still had loads of algae growing in it, specifically Chara sp., a green alga in the family Characeae. The pond is located near Cherokee Trail in Knox County, Knoxville. It gets full sun exposure. The GPS coordinates are N35 56.305 W83 56.717, elevation 850 ft. The water sample was extracted on 10/9/2012 (McFarland, 2012).
I then proceeded to put three types of plants into the little tank. I had a nice little layer of sediment in there, so I decided to draw upon my extensive experience as an amateur aquarist (read: goldfish killer) and setup the plants just right so that it looked like a teensy forest.
First, I added Amblastegium sp., a moss, which was collected at a natural spring in Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Rd, Knox County. This site has a partial shade exposure and is located at N36 01.168 W83 42.832. It was grabbed at 10/9/2012 (McFarland, 2012). This plant was beautiful and looked like a miniature Anacharis. It is the far right plant in the above photograph.
The next plant added (all the way on the left in the above image) was Utricularia gibba, a flowering carnivorous plant, common name bladder wort. It was originally collected at the south shore of Spain Lake (N36055 12.35 W088020 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd., which is east of Sparta, TN in White County, but apparently mine came from the tanks behind Hesler Biology Building (McFarland, 2012). I don't care, because BLADDER WORT EATS THINGS!! It's like the plant from "Little Shop of Horrors", only it does a LOT less singing. I do wish Steve Martin would make a guest appearance though.
The third plant I put into my Tank of Doom was a Myriophyllum Spicatum, or Parrot Feather. They are the two little feathery plants in the middle of the tank in the above image. M. Spicatum was found in the Holston River along John Sevier Highway under the I40 Bridge, with partial shade exposure in the Holston River watershed at N36 00.527 W83 49.549, 823 ft. elevation on 10/29/2011 (McFarland, 2012).
I am excited about this project. I looked at this under the microscope and saw a world of life invisible to the naked eye. An epic life or death battle was being waged at microscopic level. I saw several little organisms with flagella flying around like angry space invaders, some organisms which were just spinning in place, and I even saw an organism that looked like a jewel-encrusted crown. The bladder wort had apparently been hungry, because its bellies were full of sad little creatures trying to get out, desperately banging against the cilia-coated walls of their fleshy prison. I watched this (with glee) and wondered at the wisdom of being a tiny organism and swimming into a dark hole when there are just so many other places to go.

I can't wait to see more, and to take photographs and video.

Bibliography:

1. McFarland, Ken [Internet]. Botany 111 Fall 2012; 2012. [cited October 2012] Available from: http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/