Observation Description:
This organism is a Dinoflagellate (Phylum Miozoa) and it belongs to the Kingdom Protista. While searching under the microscope, we came across a protist that resembled the shape of a sea shell. It was microscopic in size, and seemed to have two flagella. Its color was light green and yellow. It also contained white color in it as well. The characteristic that determined that it was from the Kingdom Protista was its microscopic size and two flagella. It seemed to have a hard shell which represents its cellulose plates. According to Wikipedia, dinoflagellates are unicellular and possess two flagella. They have cellulose plates that act as protective armor. Half are photosynthetic and the other half are heterotrophic. They tend to be responsible for the red tide. They form mutualistic relationships with coral. They acquired the ability to photosynthesize through secondary endosymbiosis of a red algae (Source: Wikipedia).

Location, Habitat, and Distribution:
I observed this organism in my biology lab. According to the TA, a sample was taken from a pond at the University of South Florida. It was collected from a portion of Castor beach that was exposed to sunlight. Lat: 28.063082 Lon: -82.411015. Their habitats include all aquatic environments such as marine, fresh water, ponds, and even snow or ice. They are distributed almost anywhere there is water. They are abundant in both marine and freshwater environments (Source: Wikipedia).

Date and Time: February 8, 2019 at 7:39 PM EST

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinoflagellate

Kingdom Protista

Water sample collected from the shady area of a pond on the University of South Florida campus. Possibly Genus Ceratium (it the upper left hand edge of the water sample) and Genus Micrasterias (indicated by the black pointer) present in the sample.

This was looked at under a microscope in a lab environment. The looks of it make me believe that it is a Ceratium because of the fact that it has a horn, two flagella, and what look like armored plates. https://www.britannica.com/science/Ceratium

Microscopic organism observed at 400x total magnification. Diamond shaped body with 3 skinny appendages. I made this classification with the help of the following website
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratium
It states of the organism that "most species of Ceratium are unicellular organisms that are characterized by their armored plates, two flagella, and horns. Species of Ceratium are found worldwide and are of concern due to their blooms"

water sample from a shaded area in a lake, protist of some sort. two small, green protists. microscopic. fork-like shape.

Reference:
https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/algae/identification-guide/identify/guide/descriptions/dinoflagellates

Microscopic organism found in a pond on USF campus. It is light green with an almost transparent body. It has three flagella to help it swim around the slide. It is accompanied by other microscopic organisms.

•This is a dinoflagellate, which belongs under the kingdom Protista. It has a very distinctive shape, like all dinoflagellates do. The front has a rough peak whilst the back slide splits into two fin like structures. It is microscopic and under the microscope has a golden brown color, possible due to the secondary symbiosis with rad algae. The one defining characteristic was its distinct shape and color.
•This particular dinoflagellate was found in a sample of water that was taken at Castor beach at the University of South Florida, more specifically the area of the pond that has no shade covering it. This observation that you see under the microscope was done on Monday, February 4th, 2019.
•The dinoflagellate subside in marine habitats, and are really found all over the world.
https://www.britannica.com/science/dinoflagellate

This organism was found during a lab exercise in class. A sample of pond water was taken from Castor Pond on campus. I know that this is a dinoflagellate because of its unique shape. Dinoflagellates are part of the Kingdom Protista and are commonly found in fresh water. This organism is also quite small, with a golden brown color and also possesses two flagella for movement.
https://www.britannica.com/science/dinoflagellate

May be another species of /Ceratium/ genus. Pale green, swims by twisting/spinning, 400x magnification with tiny air bubble for scale. Looks vaguely like a rock-n-roll hand, which indicates the genus. Viewed in laboratory but obtained from sample of pond water at Castor Beach.
https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/research/phytoplankton/dinoflagellates/ceratium/c_furca.html

Kingdom Protist. Smallish oval shaped dinoflagellates with a yellowish almost translucent color. Viewed at 100X magnification and can be anywhere from 70-500um in length. They are characterized by armored plates, flagella, and horns. Found in a shaded area of a pond at USF. Known to be in marine or freshwater areas with mild temperatures.

http://oceandatacenter.ucsc.edu/PhytoGallery/Dinoflagellates/ceratium.html

Giraffe shaped organisms observed in biodiversity lab. Commonly recognized as Dinoflagellates within the SAR clade. Observed on February 5, 2019 at 5:36 PM in a laboratory setting. Classified under Kingdom Protista. They are commonly found in aquatic environments in both the northern and southern hemispheres of the world.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-007-9258-3

Asymmetrical aquatic unicellular organism with horn-like structures. I can assume that it is a photosynthetic organism due to its color.

Observation was made under microscope with 100x magnification. Water sample was obtained from Castor pond (USF Tampa).

Reference: http://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=43626&sk=0

Initial Description: Organism in the center, there are 3 in this picture, one below it and one above it near the top. Small green colored organism with two spiny ends on one side with one spiny end shorter than the other. The other side of the organism has one long spiny end. The center of the organism is green with the spiny ends on both sides clear.

Specific Characteristic: The presence of the horns on either side and chromatophores with green pigment shows that this organism is a ceratium.

Reference: https://www.britannica.com/science/Ceratium

Habitat: Found in fresh water and salt water.

Geographic Distribution: Found in many diverse places in the world, anywhere from tropics to the arctic.

This is a water sample taken from the shaded area of Castor Beach. The species had the two cellulose plates and long three sharp flagellates. This species lives in aquatic environments near zooplankton of marine and freshwater ecosystems (http://tolweb.org/Dinoflagellates/2445). Most Dinoflagellates can be found on the coasts around the United States, from the east to the west. Not many Dinoflagellates are found on the inlands of continents.

Looks to be a dinoflagellate it is very hard to tell but I do know it is a protist due to the size and location of discovery. This was taken from a sample of pond water from USF's campus in an unshaded area. It has roughly the shape of the dinoflagellate along with its coloration. These protist are found in water and the cause for red tide in florida.
https://www.britannica.com/science/dinoflagellate

Description: This protist has three horns, two adjacent at the top and one at the bottom. This organism is green which means it has chloroplasts and can photosynthesize. It has an armored body.
http://oceandatacenter.ucsc.edu/PhytoGallery/Dinoflagellates/ceratium.html
https://www.britannica.com/science/Ceratium
Habitat: This organism was found in the freshwater pond at USF. This is a man-made pond, however, these organisms have found a habitat in the water.
Geographical Distribution: These are common in freshwater and saltwater from the Arctic to the Tropics.

The organisms were observed under a microscope from Castor Pond. The dinoflagellates moved in a swirling motion. They had one pointed flagellum, visible from 40x mag.

Reference: https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/dinoflagellata.html

These dinoflagellates were observed in pond water B during the protist lab at USF on February 7th, 2019 at around 3:30pm. This pond water was taken from the Beach at Castor in a shaded area and observed under a compound microscope. The temperature of the room was normal room temperature, maybe about 73 degrees Fahrenheit. These dinoflagellates were swimming fast so it was difficult to obtain a good video of them, but these were the best pictures I could get. It is hard to make out specifics on the dinoflagellates besides the transverse groove in the center of them and the fact that they are a yellowish color. This organism was observed at a total magnification of 40X. The dinoflagellates looks about the size a index finger nail, they are small. Observing live specimens under a microscope is honestly so interesting because you would never guess such tiny organisms exist and are in just a small reach of you.

References: http://tolweb.org/Dinoflagellates/2445
http://www.biologydiscussion.com/protists/dinoflagellates-structure-and-reproduction-protists/52103

Kingdom Protista
This is photograph of a dinoflagellate that I took in my lab class that was retrieved from a pond on my urban campus. Dinoflagellates are marine plankton. Dinoflagellates have two flagella: one heterotrophic and the other photosynthetic (shown in the photo above) which help it to move throughout the water. Some have cellulose plates. You can also see the apical horns of the dinoflagellate in this observation. Many dinoflagellates are responsible for red tide. Red tide the when the population of the dinoflagellate blooms. The dinoflagellate can produce toxic chemical that harms and can kill other marine life. They may also harm the animals that consume marine organisms as a part of their diet such as birds. This microscopic, brown organism can also be bioluminescent. Many dinoflagellates are found in coastal waters including freshwater lakes, rivers, and bogs. Most dinoflagellates reproduce sexually. Dinoflagellates are geographically distributed in six of the seven continents excluding Antarctica.
Reference:https://www.britannica.com/science/dinoflagellate