Single Ciliate Observation
September 6, 2018
Ciliate Identification
The purpose of this lab was to dig deeper and look more closely at one specific ciliate. At each lens (4x, 10x, and 40x) we were to observe what the ciliate looked like, as well as ID it, sketch it, and record its size. The hope of this lab is to be able to identify the ciliate being studied from these close up observations.
Description:
- There were six different wells, each with a different ciliate specie inside.
- Observe each well under the dissecting microscope and choose one that has the most amount of life as well as one that has interesting ciliates in it.
- Using the designated pipet for one of the wells, extract enough of the ciliate-liquid to place a droplet onto a cavity slide and put a coverslip on top
- Place slide with ciliates under compound microscope and focus on the 4x magnification. Record what you see (color, size, movement, any other descriptions)
- Place slide with ciliates under compound microscope and focus on the 10x magnification. Record what you see (color, size, movement, any other descriptions)
- Place slide with ciliates under compound microscope and focus on the 40x magnification. Record what you see (color, size, movement, any other descriptions)
- Draw a sketch of what the ciliate looks like for each magnification.
- Now repeat steps 3-7 but before putting the coverslip on, stain the droplet of ciliate liquid.
- Try to identify your ciliate.
Observations and data:
- Size of ciliate: about ½ mm
- I believe the ciliate I was looking at may be under the class of Spirotrichea, but I am not certain.
| Magnification of lens | Description | Movement |
| 4x |
Big bulb with contractile tail. Lots of visible organelles inside ciliate that look like bubbles |
Somewhat fast, but field of view is large enough to keep track of where the ciliate is |
| 10x | Visible hairs at the edge of the bulb side of ciliate. They flow with the water. Organelles are less visible. | Have to keep moving the slide around to see the ciliate; moves around in a sort of random pattern, bumping into things and turning around. |
| 40x | Can’t see much when magnified this much, the ciliate is too large to be viewed clearly at this level. | Very difficult to keep up with ciliate (when stained, this is not an issue) |
Field of View measurements:
| Magnification of lens | millimeters | micrometers |
| 4x | 4.5 | 4,500 |
| 10x | 1.8 | 1,800 |
| 40x | 0.45 | 450 |
Sketches:
Notes:
Samples were not stored or labeled specifically for my group.
Next Steps:
After observing this ciliate type, the next step would be to do more research and attempt to figure out the identification of this ciliate. More observations of different specimen of this ciliate may also be helpful for its identification.