COLLEGE: CMR National PU College, ITPL, Bengaluru

SAMPLE: Pond water containing different microorganisms such as Algae and Paramecium

SITE OF COLLECTION: Bengaluru, Karnataka

DATE OF OBSERVATION: 16 July 2019

STUDENTS INVOLVED: A.S.Vidisha, Tamashree Dev

OBSERVATION:

A sample of pond water was observed under the foldscope. Organisms such as Algae were seen. It was observed that numerous Paramoecia were moving near the algal colonies. Near a few algal colonies, a organism which was slightly bigger than Paramoecium but smaller than Algae was seen. It was characterized by an oval body with a tail like end and resembled Daphnia. It was observed to be eating the algae. When viewed under a compound microscope, the features characteristic of Daphnia were seen. If anyone identifies it, please do let us know in the comments.

Algae comes under the Kingdom Plantae and can be found in freshwater and marine water samples. Paramoecium is a eukaryotic protozoan of Kingdom Prokaryota. Daphnia, also known as Branchiopod belongs to Phylum Arthropoda of Kingdom Animalia. It was very interesting to see such diversity between different species of different kingdoms living together in an ecosystem.