My Tiny Guests

In the last couple weeks my Biology laboratory was about Eutrophication. We did an experiment to see the effects of nutrient enrichment on algae growth in the Rio Salado River and Encanto Park Lake water systems were examined in this experiment. Different concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus individually and nitrogen and phosphorus together were added to the Rio Salado River and to Encanto Park Lake water. In order to facilitate the growth of algae, samples were kept in the incubator for two weeks. Then, the growth in each sample was measured by using the Algal Growth Comparator. Additions of nitrogen in various concentrations had a moderate effect on algal growth in the Rio Salado River water and in Encanto Park Lake water. Algal growth was significantly raised when the concentration of phosphorus was increased in both water systems. The results of testing the effects of added nitrogen and phosphorus indicates that an increased concentration of nutrients increases algal growth.

Last week, when I was checking my test tubes to measure the amount of algae growth I saw that I have some tiny guests in two of my test tubes. It was very interesting to see some small creatures swim in my test tubes. I asked Mr.Schampel and Matt to keep my test tubes because I really wanted to know what they are and how they appear in my test tubes. The first thing that I mention was my little creatures appeared in just two test tubes of my 18 test tubes. One of them contains 1mL of phosphorus and other one has 100 µ L of a combined Nitrogen and phosphorus. These two test tubes have a high amount of algae growth because of high quantity of Nitrogen and phosphorus that was added to them. On Friday, I place a drop of water which contains one of the creatures into the Concave microscope slides to identify it under a microscope. I looked for it around 45 minutes to be able to take a picture of it.  

I was able to identify the order of my little creatures, Cladocera. According to the Wikipedia, Cladocera is an order of small crustaceans commonly called water fleas. Around 620 species have been recognised so far, with many more undescribed. They are ubiquitous in inland aquatic habitats, but rare in the oceans. Most are 0.2–6.0 mm (0.0079–0.24 in) long, with a down-turned head, and a carapace covering the apparently unsegmented thorax and abdomen. There is a single median compound eye. Most species show cyclical parthenogenesis, where asexual reproduction is occasionally supplemented by sexual reproduction, which produces resting eggs that allow the species to survive harsh conditions and disperse to distant habitats. I couldn’t recognize family and Genus of them because I took a picture of it from top. Mr.Schampel told me that I should take a picture from sideways to be able to identify it because different species of this order has a different hand position.

While I was looking for Cladocera under a microscope, I discovered lots of interesting creatures inside of just a drop of water. I found out different types of Algae and other living creatures.    

Several type of Algae

Two different kind of living creatures