Introduction for Hyalella azteca
Hyalella azteca is a prolific species of Amphipoda geographically located in North, Central and South America. H. azteca are fresh water benthic amphipods commonly found on sediment in lakes and rivers. H. azteca are found at all depths but are the most abundant in shallow lakes at approximately 0.5m in depth (Gonzalez and Watling 2002).
Male and female H. azteca vary in length. H. azteca range from 3-8mm where males are commonly larger than females. The length of male H. azteca average at 7.8mm where females average at 5.6mm of length (Gonzalez and Watling 2002). Hyalella azteca are classified in the subphylum Crustacea. Therefore H. azteca share many physiological properties with other crustaceans such as krill and crab. H. azteca have a transparent and medium-hard exoskeleton to protect the body and organs of the H. azteca (personal observation) The H. azteca have two pigmented eyes situated in between two antennas to aid the amphipod detect light and convert the waves into chemical reactions in the neurons by the ganglia of the amphipod. Similarly to other arthropods, H. azteca is segmented into three primary categories—head, thorax and abdomen, with the addition of a tail. The head, thorax and abdomen are part of the chitinous…show more content… azteca may live in habitats ranging from 0° to 33° Celsius. Optimal biological processes, including growth and reproduction occur at 20° to 28° Celsius (Hogg et al. 1998, Duan et al. 2000b). For the in-class experiment, temperature will be the factor investigated. Seasons, locations and time of day causes the habitat’s temperature to change. Since H. azteca may live and reproduce year-round, H. azteca experiences various temperature differences due to seasons, time of day and location (Strong 1972). At night, the temperature of the habitat falls due to the decrease of sunlight. In addition, the winter season will cause the lakes and rivers to generally decrease in
