Bill Palmer DC INTEGRATED BIOLOGY FRESHWATER PLANKTON

FRESHWATER PLANKTON

Freshwater plankton and marine plankton are similar in appearance, classification, and function. We will collect and study some freshwater plankton since we don’t instant access to the ocean.

FRESHWATER PLANKTON Plankton are small organisms found in water. Usually are invertebrates. Usually float. Provide food for many animals. Indicators of health of system.

FRESHWATER PLANKTON Animal Plankton is generally known as ZOOPLANKTON. Plant Plankton is generally known as PHYTOPLANKTON.

MICROSCOPE COMPOUND MICROSCOPE Use for higher power X Good for: Bacteria Protists Cells

MICROSCOPE DISSECTING MICROSCOPE Use for lower power 10-20X Good for: Dissecting small things Invertebrates Flowers

USING THE COMPOUND MICROSCOPE 1. Always use care with microscope-two hands 2. Start with low power and work your way to higher power 3. Adjust the light 4. Don’t cram objective into specimen 5. Practice moving things into the field of view

USING THE DISSECTING MICROSCOPE 1. Always use care with microscope-two hands 2. Start with low power and work your way to higher power 3. Adjust the light 4. Practice moving things into the field of view

LOOKING AT PLANKTON 1. Put some of the pond water onto the well slide 2. Get some pond water with algae but not too much 3. Put a cover slip on slide 4. Adjust the light 5. Search the field-things will be moving-follow and try to identify 6. Use other type of microscope

SOME COMMON PROTIST Protists are one-celled animals

SOME COMMON PROTIST Euglena Move with Flagella (flagellum)

SOME COMMON PROTIST Paramecium Move with cillia (cillium)

SOME COMMON PROTIST Amoeba Move with pseudopods (“false feet”)

SOME COMMON PROTIST Vorticella Cillia on “springs”

SOME COMMON PROTIST Stentor Large funnel with cillia

SOME COMMON PROTIST Volvox Ball of Colonial Cells Photosynthetic

SOME COMMON PROTIST Arcella Like an Amoeba with a “turtle shell.”

SOME COMMON PROTIST Spirogyra A common type of pond algae with the chlorophyll arranged like a corkscrew.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Rotifers These are the “wheel animals first seen by Leeuwenhoek in 1703.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Cladocera (cyclops) These arthropods have one red eye and often have two egg sacs.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Daphnia (water flea) Look for the beating heart and females with eggs or babies in these arthropods.

AN UNCOMMON INVERTEBRATE Tardigrade (water bear) These are hard to find but look for them in the sediments at the bottom of the tank.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Mayfly Nymph These insects spend most of their life as aquatic nymphs. Adults live for one day-only to reproduce. Adults have no mouthparts with which to feed. Nymphs have THREE filaments

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Stonefly Nymph Stoneflies have TWO filaments.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Dragonfly Nymph Dragonfly nymphs are voracious feeders. The lower jaw “juts out “ to grab prey. May eat small fish.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Caddisfly Nymph Caddisfly nymphs make a protective case of sticks or sand to protect them from predators.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Beetle Larvae Water Penny-we may find at Rockbridge SP Many beetle larvae are aquatic. Look for a “worm with six legs”.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Fly Larvae Horse fly (maggots) and mosquito larvae (wigglers) are aquatic.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES True Bugs Toad Bug- bites! Ouch!!! Water bug with babies on back. Giant Water Bug-This can eat fish, frogs and swimmers toes! Ouch! These bugs may bite. Leathery wings with “X” on back.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES True Bugs Leathery wings with “X” on back. Water Strider (not water spider) uses surface tension to “walk on water.” Water Scorpion- ”Stinger is really a snorkel. These bugs usually do NOT bite

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Beetles Giant Water Beetle-can kill and eat small frogs and fish. May come to lights at night. Hard Shell

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Planaria Flatworms- nonparasitic or free-living. Planaria have great Powers of regeneration And are often used in Experiments. We MAY find the rare Pink Planaria at Rockbridge SP.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Nematode Worm Roundworms All parasites have a very complex life cycle. The parasitic Horsehair worm is found in fresh water and must have a cricket/grasshopper to complete its life cycle.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Oligichate Worm Worms with bristle feet Earthworms and leeches.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Crustaceans-1 AMPHIPODS- Like Shrimp swim on side. We should find lots of these at Rockbridge SP.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Crustaceans-2 ISOPODS- Flat like sowbug or pillbug or rolley-polley We should find some of these at Rockbridge SP.

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Molluscs Snails and Clams

SOME COMMON INVERTEBRATES Amoeba (Protista, Sarcodina)) Paramecium (Protista, Ciliate) Aeolosoma (Annelida) Brown Hydra (Coelenterate) Brown Planaria (Platyhelminthes) Daphnia (Arthropod, Crustacean) Rotifers (Philodina) Vinegar Eel (Nematode)