This week's observations I noticed many of the same species as I have in the past two weeks. I also had time to observe a few more species that I have not already documented. One aspect of my microaquarium that I have noticed is that I have not seen many dead organisms; everything seems to still be alive and well. The species that I observed again this week just like the past two weeks are the annelid, nematode, flatworm, and difflugia. I saw six difflugia, which are a brown, round sarcodinid; and i saw three annelids, which are worms. I only saw one flatworm and nematode, however.
The new species I observed this week were the gastrotricha, amoeba, and the paramecium. The gastrotricha has a clear, cylinder, worm-like body with a distinguishable head and tail. The head is round and covered in whisker-like hair, and it has two tails instead of one. I saw about ten of these when I was observing. The amoeba is a clear protist that appears very glob-like and moves using pseudopodia. I saw three amoeba while observing. The last new species that I observed was the paramecium. The paramecium is clear and tear-drop shaped with obvious food vacuoles and covered in cilia. I observed over twenty of these protists moving continuously throughout the microaquarium. The amoeba and the paramecium were identified using the source Free-living Freshwater Protozoa by D.J. Patterson. The gastrotricha was identified using the source Fresh Water Biology by Henry Ward and George Whipple.