Week Three

Figure 1.  Arcella sp. with several Diatomsand a Desmid sp.
Patterson 1996, Figure 173.

Another week of brings changes that i couldn't have foreseen. Firstly, a dramatic decrease in Colpidium is a firm example of food competition for the dead bacteria, and can also be attributed to a higher organism with an appetite for organisms in its size range. After several minutes of scanning for something new, I found an amber colored organism that was said to be Arcella (another amoeba). Figure 1. shows the organism with several Desmids and Diatoms by which they feed upon. It was very interesting to witness the cytoplasmic flow within the Arcella, and after a few pictures, a speedy moving ciliate noted as Tachysoma zipped throught the viewing area. Testing my microscope capabilities, this little organism zipped back and forth with the help of an array of cilia surrounding its cell membrane. Like many Protozoa, Tachysoma competes for the dead bacteria and other food particles that float about in the micro-ecostystem.

Figure 2. Tachysoma sp.
Patterson 1996, Figure 265.

Figure 2 shows the fast swimming ciliate in a brief moment of rest; just enough time for me and a peer to snap a quick shot before it resumed its seemingly never ending search for nutrition.