Blog Entry Two

Today, while observing my MicroAquarium, I found a roundworm.  Roundworms are also known as nematodes.  When they are found in freshwater, they are almost always less than a centimeter long.  The one I found was at the bottom of the aquarium, burrowing in some dirt.  It was hanging out in a tube, and was trying to move it around.  Its mouth was a sucker, and was consuming things it found in the dirt.  According to Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States, a roundworm's mouth is "characteristically surrounded by lips, each with a small papilla on its summits,"(Pennak, 1989).  Papilla, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is "a small projecting body part similar to a nipple in form," (Merriam-Webster, 2013).

Here is the roundworm that I observed, just hanging out in a tube.

I found this information at:

Pennak, Robert. Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States. Protozoa to Mollusca. New York: 1989.

Merriam-, Webster. "Papilla." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2013. 

Available from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/papilla?show=0&t=1382654466