The experiment consisted of two sub-experiments that when synthesized together, successfully answered our main question. The first of the two sub-experiments focused on collecting data for the creation of a life table in which Daphnia magna were not in the presence of a predator such as Lepomis macrochirus, known in laymen’s terms as bluegill fish. The second of the two sub-experiments focused on collecting data for the creation of a life table as well, but this time the daphnia were subjected to an environment where bluegill fish were present. The collection of the data for the creation of the first lifetable without predation consisted of fourteen replicates or daphnia starting at age 3 and ending at varying ages depending on the mortality of each replicate group. The process for this portion of the experiment was identical for all fourteen replicates. Ten daphnia, all at age 3, were placed in beakers of water …show more content…
The process was replicated by thirty groups and the following process was kept constant by each group. Thirty daphnia of various sizes were measured through the aid of a light microscope and micrometer scale. These daphnia were then placed into a tank containing a single bluegill fish, which had been kept unfed for a constant amount of times. When the bluegill fish had eaten ten of the thirty daphnia placed in the tank, it was immediately removed from the tank and placed in a beaker containing a narcotic based anesthetic poison. Following the death of the fish, as indicated by the complete halting of its movement the fish, the fish was dissected in order to remove the eaten daphnia and once again measure them using a light microscope. The dissection process consisted of making a sagittal plane incision stretching from the anus to the throat and removing the ten daphnia from the fish’s intestinal