The first step in our experiment was to simply observe the worms and get a “feel” for the ways in which they act. We did this on Wednesday, May 7, 1997 from 9:30am to 10:30am. Also on this day we learned how to mix and measure salinity, practiced weighing the worms, and deciding our exact schedule as far as when we would come in and for how long, etc.

From what I observed, the polychaete is a salt-water worm that has adapted to live in estuaries. We kept the control tank at 20 parts per thousand to 24 parts per thousand, and the worms seemed very content and healthy at that level. The worms on which we experimented ranged in size from approximately four inches to approximately six inches. They weighed from 1.8 grams to 4.6 grams at the beginning of the experiment. They have a pinkish, almost salmon color to them, and on two opposit

I came in the next day (Friday, May 9, 1997) and started weighing them at 11:03am. Of the low salinity worms, Goliath popped and died, Pedro was still dead (obviously), and Louie decreased one-tenth of a gram. Of the high salinity worms, Jenny and Dopey remained the same as the day before and Boris decreased one-tenth of a gram.

After observing the worms, I formulated the hypothesis that, when facing a change in salinity, the worms would adapt osmotically to the environment and their volumes would change, but they would not make any efforts to re-adapt back to their original volumes. The reasons I formulated this hypothesis were quite frankly less than scientifically stable. When I looked at the worms, I saw a very basic physiology, and I suppose I figured that a basic physiology like that would be less capable of engaging in re-adaptive processes. I know that this hypothesis was based on a whim, but that is honestly how I came to it. I really do not have an excessively scientific background, so I am not overly aware of all the factors that go into a process like this. So my hypothesis was based on a general conjecture. Also I had heard that some of these worms have a tendency to lacerate under low salinity conditions, so I figured that would not support a re-adaptive hypothesis.

As for the higher salinity worms, they basically acted how I suspected them to act. Their volumes continued decreasing. Both Boris and Jenny did have one measurement in which their weights actually increased, and I honestly do not know how to explain that. They all looked at one point as if they reached equilibrium (especially Dopey), but none of them did.

We began the experiment on Thursday, May 8, 1997. We came in at 7:30am to mix the salts and set everything up. The control tank was at 24 parts per thousand. We decided to put three worms (named Goliath, Louie, and Pedro) in 32 parts per thousand and three worms (named Boris, Jenny, and Dopey) in ten parts per thousand. We started weighing at 8:10am. I picked them up with my bare hands (what a stud I am!), Jeremy dried them off with a paper towel and put them in the container on the scale, and Patty recorded the time and weight. We also made sure to dry off the container after every use to make sure that the excess water did not get calculated with the worm’s weight. We weighed all the worms every half hour until approximately 10:45am, when Jeremy and I had to leave. Patty stayed and continued to weigh the worms, but only every hour rather than half hour, because the rate of their changing had begun to slow down. She stayed and weighed the last worm at 1:45pm. Then !

Their actions were very basic. They seemed to like to stay still for the most part, hiding underneath the little bit of seaweed we put in the tank. We also put a glass tube at the bottom of the tank, thinking that they might try to crawl in there for safety, but we never s

Some topics in this essay:
Jenny Dopey, Patty Jeremy, Boris Jenny, , Louie Pedro, salinity worms, reached equilibrium, low salinity, thousand worms, equilibrium reached, ten thousand, jenny dopey, 24 thousand, change salinity, control tank, entire length bodies, decreased 11 grams, looked reached equilibrium, decreased one-tenth gram, 32 thousand worms,