Lots of life

The first thing I noticed upon examining my Micro Aquarium was a gigantic, snake like organism. Not going to lie, the thing is freaking scary. Definitely appears to be the dominant life form, nothing else comes close to his size, besides the plant of course. I think he is about 1cm to 1.5 cm long. I had a hard time identifying it since it likes to squirm around in the mud, but after researching a little online I believe it belongs to the Genus Chaoborus, or a Phantom Midge larva, because it is transparent. He leaves tracks in the mud when he moves. I named him Monty. Another life form with a significant presence was Philodina, a genus of mirco-animal. There were copious amounts, possibly hundreds, mostly congregated around the plant. I also observed some bright green photosynthetic, circular algae. There are quite a few of these algae, who remain stationary and were dispersed throughout the water. Several small, rod shaped diatoms also appear throughout the water, though they are nearly impossible to see, they appear as debris. These organisms are a type of algae, and are photosynthetic. Every once in awhile you can see a little organism skirt quickly across, these belong to the phylum Gastrotrich, a type of ciliated mirco-animal. Some quick research on the internet told me these guys actually have the shortest lifespan of all animals. All organisms except the midge were identified with the help of Guide to Microlife. Life in the Micro-Hood is already booming, and I can't wait to see what next week has in store.

Works and URLs Cited

Rainis, Kenneth G. and Bruce J. Russel. Guide to Microlife. 1996.

http://islandwood.org/kids/stream_health/macros/Phantom_midge_larva.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastrotrich