Week 1 Observation - October 23

Under the microscope, and with Dr. McFarland's assistance, I observed and identified several organisms, which includes the vorticella seen in this picture.  The vorticella appeared to be attached to the side, middle of the aquarium and was not moving.  I saw a few stationary spirogyra, which were green in color.  I saw numerous rotifers moving randomly at a medium speed.  I saw two planaria that were bending their bodies around, but not actually travelling anywhere.  I saw three whiplike nematodes that were moving slowly and aimlessly.  I saw several tachyosoma moving quickly; one stopped and I thought it was dying.  I asked Dr. McFarland who told me it slowed down to divide, but I did not see this happen.  I referenced the book Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa p. 125 with this observation.  I also used the "pond 1" poster for reference to identify several of the above mentioned organisms.  The most common organisms were the circular organisms I referred to as "bubbles" last week.  They remain unidentified, but hopefully with another week's growth, they will be identifiable.
Most of the organisms were single-celled and non-green.  The nematodes and the rotifers were in the soil as well as in the middle of the aquarium where the other organisms were located.  Overall, the microaquarium appears far more alive with organisms than when I observed it following setup last week.