Squid dissection !

On Friday, November 7th our bio class did a fun and exciting squid dissection ! Unfortunately i had a fever so i missed out on this lab, which sucks big time. Talking to peers, and my other friends from other blocks, this lab was a lot of fun, and a great learning experience, even though it was gross too. I really wish i was here for this dissection, because i love getting to try new things, and this is something i definitely would have wanted to do. I would never get the chance to do something like this outside of bio class either, so i missed out. Especially since im the type of person were i learn better, when i can see it physically and its hands on. Im a visual learner, so this would have been so cool to see. Since i missed this lab, the pictures i will be using are from peers and other friends, also from online.

Squids are a member of the Phylum Mollusca, and are part of the class Cephalopoda. This group has the most complex brain from any other invertebrate. All squids are covered in a soft body and a covering called the mantle, this also encloses all of the important body organs such as the heart, stomach and gills. They feed on fish, marine, worms and sometimes other squids as well. The squid use tentacles to catch their prey, then it is pulled in from the arms and down to the beak. The size of the squids can depend, some are as small as thumbnails, and some can be as big as a house, they can measure upto 60 feet in length.


External Anatomy Questions

1) How many arms does your squid have? How many tentacles?
Squid's have 8 arms and 2 tentacles

2) Based on the structures of the arms and the tentacles, describe how their purpose differ. What do the arms do and what do the tentacles do ?
The arms and tentacles jobs are to grasp prey, they use it to get food.

3) Draw arrows on the squid below to indicate the direction that water comes our of the funnel and the direction that the squid moves

The funnel is were the water comes out of. The squid moves backwards in water

4) Name two external features that are adaptations for the squids predatory life. How do these adaptations help the squid?
 Some external features that squids use are tentacles, water jet, large eyes and fins

Internal Anatomy Questions

5) Do you remember the general traits of molluses we discussed in lecture? Name two traits that the squid shares with other mollusks.
Soft body, body cavity, bilateral symmetry are some general traits.

6) How many pairs of gills does the squid have?
The squid have a total of four gills, usually two of them are on each side

7) Where does the ink sac empty into and what is its function?
The ink sack emptys into the funnel, and the function is that it can ink other predators so it can help it get away

8) What is the function of the pen? What would happen if the squid didnt have a pen?
The pens job is to support the squids mantle. If a squid didnt have a pen then it would not be able to get the proper support or nutrients

9) How do you think wastes exit the squid?
Squids have a proper and complete digestive system. The wastes exit through the anus, which opens in the middle of the body.

Annelid (earthworm) dissection !

On Friday, November 30th our bio 11 class did our first dissection! We have been learning about the different types of Annelids (earthworms) there structures, behaviors  characteristic and more. We all can learn by reading and taking notes, but the best way to learn is by seeing it our self  getting an hand on experience with it. So our teacher brought us earthworms to dissect, we were partnered up with the person we sit with. Our goal for this dissection was to see our self how the worm's structure are, looking at the brain, the heart, the intestines. We had to name the organs that made up the various systems of the earthworm. The purpose of it was to observe the external and the internal structures of the earthworm anatomy. My partner and I used a total of 3 worms. The first worm we used, would not cut propally and when we finally got it to cut, it cut in half and we ripped the intestines and the structures that were holding the worm together. The same thing happened to the second worm we got, we stretched it out to far so when we went to cut it, it just cut in half. Our third worm we got our friend Mathew to cut it and it finally worked out the way it was suppose to. My partner and I are both girls, so we both were the ones to dissect it. We both found it really weird and gross to see. We got over it when we had to look at it under the microscope. This was a fun yet gross dissection. I learned a lot and it helped me understand worms, and there inside structure. It changed my thoughts on hand on experiences for sure. 



Discussion Questions 

1) What is the name of the pumping organs of an earthworm ?
The earthworm has five aortic arches that are the pumping organs of an earthworm

2) Trace the parts of the digestive tract through which food passes

When the soil enters the worm, the pharynx pulls the food in, it would then travel through the esophagus and then it would be moistened. When it is moistened it then goes to the gizzard

3) Which parts of the earthworm serve as its brain? How are these parts connected to the rest of the body?

There are two pairs of Ganglia in a worm. One pair is under the pharynx and the other pair is above the ganglia. This serves as the brain, it has ventral nerve cords which connects to all the organs in a earthworm.

4) Which of the parts of the worms body that you saw are included in the excretory system?

I was able to see the Anus, but could not find any others. 

5) How can you find out whether an earthworm eats soil ?

this is a picture of worm number 2, you can see the soil in here

In this picture, you can see close up from the microscope the soil

It was simple to find out, when looking through the microscope my partner and i found soil everywhere. I guess it came out when we were cutting the worm open and we may have distoryed an intestine or a cord which caused it all to come out. 

6) Among the earthworms structural adapations are its setae? How do you think the earthworm's setae make it well adapted to its habitat ?
I could not find the setae on the worm

7) How is the earthworm's digestive system adapted for extracting relatively small amounts of food from large amounts of ingested soil?
The gizzard helps in this case, it is a muscular organ. It is used to churn the food and help it when it moves onto the intestine where the food absorption occurs.  

8) Your dissection of the earthworm did not go beyond segment 32. What will you observe if you dissect the remainder of the worm to its posterior end?
The digestive and excretory system 

9) During mating, two earthworms exchange sperm. Fertilization is external, and cocoons are produced from which the young eventually emerge. Refer again to steps 5 and 11, where you located the earthworm's reproductive organs. Use a reference to identify the role of each organ in the reproductive process of the earthworm. On a separate paper, summarize your findings.




Worm number 1 :

We cut the first worm open and found this. It is the brain, and the intensities 

... And then it ripped in half. But in this picture you can see the soil that came out when we cut the intestine open.

 Worm number 2 :

 




These here are close up pictures from the microscope of the brain, intestines, heart, and more

Zoology Webquest !

3 different types of Marine Flatworms

Genus : Pseudoceros

Species : Sapphirinus

Family : Pseudocerotidae

Order : Polycladida

This type of marine flatworm can be found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, In Fiji to be exact.

Genus : Pseudoceros

Species : Cf. Dimidiatus

Family : Pseudocerotidae

Order : Polycladida

This can be found in the Red Sea, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Genus : Prostheceraeus

Species : Giesbrechtii

Family : Euryleptidae

Order : Polycladida

This can be found in the Mediterranean Sea, In Roses, Costa Brava and Spain