Observation 5

On this last observation I noticed that there was significant loss of life. I did not see many living organisms in the soil or moving freely within the tank. But, what I had noticed that Increased was diatoms and cyanobacteria. Another organism that I had noticed increase was the Dero. These past weeks I have been watching it grow and divide into many immature Deros. This week I saw an organism that I had never seen before in the tank. It is Tardigrada sp. (Pennak,1989).


This was a moving organism, it has eight legs. It moved like it was walking from object to object. This was a multi cellular and non-green chlorophyll organism. I saw it near the middle layer of the tank. This was the only one that I saw of its species. I was surprised to see it because they are so rare to see.

Bibliography

Pennak, Robert. 1989. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States. 3rd ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.