Hello everyone and welcome to this little microscopy thread!
Many hobbyists stumble upon microscopes once they are dealing with a pest they can't properly identify any other way. Besides their obvious usefulness when dealing with a problem, microscopes grant access to a whole new world many people seem to forget about, even though it builds the very foundation of a healthy coral reef.
That's why I decided to start this thread and share some of the microscopy photos I've taken from my reef tank. I'd love for anyone with the ability to capture good microscope images to post theirs as well. If the community enjoys these images, I will try to add more photos/videos here every once in a while.
Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for this thread) I've managed to keep my tank free of major pests, so I can't provide images of things like acropora-eating flatworms, red planaria, and similar troublemakers yet (hopefully it stays that way). I can, however, share photos of various dinoflagellates, diatoms, coral tissue, copepods, and more, if people are interested.
I hope you enjoy the first few images I have taken for this thread:
1. Amphiprion ocellaris (Common Clownfish) eggs.
(Clownfish egg - Day 1)
(Clownfish egg - Day 5)
It is astonishing how much changes within a few days.
2. Coral samples
(Briareum sp. polyp with dense zooxanthellae population)
These little orange circles are most likely Symbiodinium sp. (dinoflagellates) living in symbiosis with their host coral to provide energy via photosynthesis in exchange for anorganic molecules and a safe place to stay.
(Rhodactis sp. "Rhodactis Plutonium" cnidocytes and some zooxanthellae)
Ever wondered how corals can sting something? These bean shaped cells are everywhere on certain corals and will literally shoot a toxin-loaded string (cnidocyst, well visible on the image) into whatever activates them.
(Briareum sp. "sclerite")
Even though Briareum is considered a soft coral it still grows these calcitic spicules.
3. Various critters
(Some Ostracod I found in the stomach of a flatworm)
Harmless armored crusaceans that you can find sifting through detritus in the substrate
(Juvenile Ghost Flatworm)
The visible "hole" in its body stems from the previously posted ostracod which simply "fell out" of it after a while of observing it swim around on the slide. This particular species doesn't seem to cause any harm to corals. This specimen was maybe 1mm in length, but they can grow up to like 4mm.
4. Algae and Protists
(Dinoflagellate, probably Ostreopsis sp.)
One of the more dangerous dinoflagellates due to toxicity according to the identification guide, but finding a few single cells from time to time is absolutely normal and nothing to worry about.
(Dinoflagellate, probably Prorocentrum sp., maybe P. lima?)
These guys appear to be preying on diatoms, at least their number seems somewhat proportional to the diatom population in my tank. They never become a problem and I only see very small numbers of them, but if my tank would at some point get a dino issue, I'm pretty sure it will be those guys.
(Diatom, possibly Licmophora sp.)
These little guys are very abundant in my tank. They attach to pretty much every surface they can find and make up a major portion of the stuff that needs to be scraped off of my tank glass frequently. My copperband butterfly fish for some reason loves eating the brown stuff coming off my glass while I clean it.
EquipmentMost images are taken with my Leica/Leitz DMRB microscope using DIC microscopy and focus stacking (some are dark-field or simple bright-field). I'm currently using a Sony A7iii to take images and will hopefully soon get my hands on some better microscope objectives so quality improves further. The images you have seen range from 50x to 1000x magnification.
Further Posts:
Amphidinium small cell (Page 1, Post #3)
[Video] Polychaete in dark field (Page 1, Post #4)
[Video] Parenchymella larvae of a sponge (Page 1, Post #6)
Bubble algae (Page 1, Post #8)
Copepod nauplii (Page 1, Post #11)
[Video] Some unidentified "worm" (Page 1, Post #12)
Diatoms (Page 1, Post #16)
[Video] Some Sabellidae or Serpulidae tube-worm in DIC (Page 2, Post #24)
Many hobbyists stumble upon microscopes once they are dealing with a pest they can't properly identify any other way. Besides their obvious usefulness when dealing with a problem, microscopes grant access to a whole new world many people seem to forget about, even though it builds the very foundation of a healthy coral reef.
That's why I decided to start this thread and share some of the microscopy photos I've taken from my reef tank. I'd love for anyone with the ability to capture good microscope images to post theirs as well. If the community enjoys these images, I will try to add more photos/videos here every once in a while.
Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for this thread) I've managed to keep my tank free of major pests, so I can't provide images of things like acropora-eating flatworms, red planaria, and similar troublemakers yet (hopefully it stays that way). I can, however, share photos of various dinoflagellates, diatoms, coral tissue, copepods, and more, if people are interested.
I hope you enjoy the first few images I have taken for this thread:
1. Amphiprion ocellaris (Common Clownfish) eggs.
(Clownfish egg - Day 1)
(Clownfish egg - Day 5)
It is astonishing how much changes within a few days.
2. Coral samples
(Briareum sp. polyp with dense zooxanthellae population)
These little orange circles are most likely Symbiodinium sp. (dinoflagellates) living in symbiosis with their host coral to provide energy via photosynthesis in exchange for anorganic molecules and a safe place to stay.
(Rhodactis sp. "Rhodactis Plutonium" cnidocytes and some zooxanthellae)
Ever wondered how corals can sting something? These bean shaped cells are everywhere on certain corals and will literally shoot a toxin-loaded string (cnidocyst, well visible on the image) into whatever activates them.
(Briareum sp. "sclerite")
Even though Briareum is considered a soft coral it still grows these calcitic spicules.
(Some Ostracod I found in the stomach of a flatworm)
Harmless armored crusaceans that you can find sifting through detritus in the substrate
(Juvenile Ghost Flatworm)
The visible "hole" in its body stems from the previously posted ostracod which simply "fell out" of it after a while of observing it swim around on the slide. This particular species doesn't seem to cause any harm to corals. This specimen was maybe 1mm in length, but they can grow up to like 4mm.
(Dinoflagellate, probably Ostreopsis sp.)
One of the more dangerous dinoflagellates due to toxicity according to the identification guide, but finding a few single cells from time to time is absolutely normal and nothing to worry about.
(Dinoflagellate, probably Prorocentrum sp., maybe P. lima?)
These guys appear to be preying on diatoms, at least their number seems somewhat proportional to the diatom population in my tank. They never become a problem and I only see very small numbers of them, but if my tank would at some point get a dino issue, I'm pretty sure it will be those guys.
(Diatom, possibly Licmophora sp.)
These little guys are very abundant in my tank. They attach to pretty much every surface they can find and make up a major portion of the stuff that needs to be scraped off of my tank glass frequently. My copperband butterfly fish for some reason loves eating the brown stuff coming off my glass while I clean it.
Equipment
Further Posts:
Amphidinium small cell (Page 1, Post #3)
[Video] Polychaete in dark field (Page 1, Post #4)
[Video] Parenchymella larvae of a sponge (Page 1, Post #6)
Bubble algae (Page 1, Post #8)
Copepod nauplii (Page 1, Post #11)
[Video] Some unidentified "worm" (Page 1, Post #12)
Diatoms (Page 1, Post #16)
[Video] Some Sabellidae or Serpulidae tube-worm in DIC (Page 2, Post #24)
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