Copepod

The largest organism present in my aquarium is the lone Copepod. The Copepod, or Cyclops, is a "fresh water Arthropod and a member of the Crustacea group, belonging to the sub-group Cyclopoida and the sub-class Copepoda. There are forty-six free-living species, of which forty-four belong to the genus Cyclops."(Pond Life I.D. Kit)
The Cyclops' distinct size and shape make it stand out amongst the other smaller organisms. A single eye appears at the top of the head, from which it gets its nickname. "The fused head and thorax is clearly marked off from the abdomen. Typically the head has five pairs of limbs and the mid-body region seven pairs." (Pond Life I.D. Kit) Thus it is also one of the fastest creatures present. It frequently relocates faster than I can follow it, making it especially hard to capture good photos.

More Observations

Larvae appears to have hatched into flying insect (either a midge or mosquito) that escaped as soon as the top was removed. There are also numerous seed shrimp and a large cyclops swimming around, the latter of which can been seen in the pictures below. I had to add some more water as the level was getting terribly low.

Pictures

Here are some pictures I took of the MicroAquarium.

Samples Used / Initial Observations

Samples Used:

For my project, I filled the MicroAquarium with water from sample 11 along with dirt and leaf fragments from the aforementioned sample. Plants A and B were also used.

Initial Microscopic Observations:

Sample contains a number of what appear to be protists, crustaceans, nematodes, and insect larvae.