WHAT IS A FISH LAB?

First day in the GMU fish lab was a success! Today I was taught how to:

• Extract and sort macroinvertebrates and ichthyoplankton from zooplankton tow and drop ring samples

• Prepare, maintain and organize samples for analysis and identification

• Safely handle and dispose of chemicals used during processing

Searching for the macroinvertebrates and ichthyoplankton under a microscope, in the sample trays, was tedious work, but also surprisingly relaxing. The term macroinvertebrates refers to the organisms lacking backbones that can be seen with the naked eye. Although they can be seen with the naked eye, we still use microscopes to avoid overlooking organisms in the samples and therefore reducing miscalculations in population diversity. These samples were collected from various bodies of water in the Potomac River watershed.

I believe it is appropriate to compare this work to a word search game- scanning for just the right word, or in this case just the right organism.

The excitement I experienced after finding a large orb snail, then an even larger amphipod (sometimes referred to as "scuds") was the most I had felt all semester. Who knew this was the life of a laboratory technician!

I'm thrilled for the semester ahead, filled with fine-tuning my sorting skills and getting to know all the wonderful people in the lab.