Orange Squirmy Worm

We found these tiny squirmy orangish things in the bottom of a pail after it rained about a week ago in our backyard (Oceanside, CA). We looked at it under the microscope at 4x. Any idea what this is? We'll keep watching the pail to see if they change--maybe they're insect larvae.

I like how it moved around with its little pod feet.  It wasn't very happy under the microscope so we put the little guy back in the pail with its friends.

Choosing a Microscope

I got the following questions in response to one of our YouTube videos:

I want to start exploring microbes with a microscope but I just don't know how I can. Will I need a microscope with a x1000 magnification? Is that all I'll need? What kind of (cheap) microscope would you recommend?

National Optics makes high quality microscopes. From what I've read, it's worth it to spend the money on high quality optics. I decided on the MI-SP162 which is binocular (less eye strain) and is a nice, sturdy microscope with precision controls. I also paid extra for the Super High Contrast Objectives (ASC), and I'm very happy with the results.

You can see protoza with the 100x and 400x objectives, and even some paramecia with the 40x. I don't use the 1000x objective much because I don't like messing with the oil, but you need it to see bacteria. So far we've looked mostly at protoza which are more complex and interesting.

At first we got a microscope with a built-in camera but the resolution was low and the speed wasn't fast enough to take movies--the germs were just blurs. Now I just put a Canon digital camera (PowerShot SD800 IS) up to the eyepiece on a small tripod and that's how I take the movies. I works quite well.

Baby Bug

We went to Lake Poway a few weeks ago and collected some lake water (with scum, of course!) from the spot marked by the arrow. We didn't get around to looking at it until a few weeks later, and by then some insect eggs had hatched into larvae.

Below is a little guy that was swimming around. The video is only at 4x, and he was a few millimeters long.

It might be a damselfly larva, based on pictures I found by googling. Here's a useful page of other tiny aquatic creatures.

I have to say, baby bugs just aren't as cute as baby mammals.

Wacky Glass Walker

This is the last of the creatures found in Calvin's fish tank, and it reminded us of Wacky Wall Walkers. This is a ciliate that uses it cilia to walk along the top of the glass. Did it evolve this trait specifically for life in a fish bowl?

A quick google search on "ciliate walking on glass" came up with hypotrich, which this appears to be. The legs with which it walks are actually bundled cilia called cirri. What did people do before google? (spend hours in the library, I guess)

Another Rotifer

Here's another rotifer from the scum in Calvin's fish tank, along with his friend the worm. The video below the picture shows the two of them in action. You can see the rotifer mouth sweeping in food, the jaws chomping it up, and the toes wagging like the tail of a happy puppy.






Why are there so many rotifers (three found so far) in this tank? I read that rotifers are added to fish tanks because they eat up debris and keep it clean. Were these added to the pet store fish tanks? Have they continued to propagate and survived the multiple tank cleanings and water changings?

Another Paramecium

Here's another creature found in the scum of Calvin's fish tank--it's quite a zoo in there. I believe this one's a paramecium based on the cilia it swims about with and the contractile vacuoles which it uses to pump out excess water. The video is taken at 100x and you can see smaller bacteria swimming around it, apparently unaware that the paramecium feeds on their kind.

Rotifer Jaws in Action

Here's another rotifer found in the scum of Calvin's fish tank (taken at 400x). At the beginning, we see the rotifer just swimming around looking for food. We then jump to a clip of it eating. You can see the cilia at the mouth moving around to sweep particles into the mouth, and then you can see the jaws chomping it up! The jaws are in the middle of the animal, and look a bit like the mouth of a sabre-tooth cat.

Brown Oozy Worm

Here's another one of Harold's friends. (Harold is Calvin's fish, and we found lots of creatures living in the scum of his tank.)

This is some kind of brown oozy worm. Is it one gigantic cell (for a microbe) or is it a multi-cellular animal? Maybe we should ask Harold.

Vacuum on a Stalk

We looked at some green and white scum in Calvin's fish tank and we found that Calvin's fish, Harold, has lots of friends.

Below is a creature that appears to be a big vacuum mouth that sucks up particles. I don't know why it contracts violently all the time. Is that how it swallows its food?



Update: This appears to be a type of rotifer. These are multicellular animals with a mouth (called a corona, which makes me thirsty), primitive jaws (called trophi) and a stomach. They also have a foot and toes, which are sometimes attached to plants, as the example above appears to be.

Update #2:  It's a Vorticella. Thanks Mr. Comments!

Chlamydomonas with Flagella

Here is one of the little guys from the Christmas Germs post below where I wondered if they moved with a flagella or cilia. Here, at 1000x, we can actually see the flagella when it's not moving.



I believe this is a Chlamydomonas protozoan because it has a red eye spot and looks like these Chlamydomas species on Wikipedia.