Microscopy Thread

[RobertK]

I'm really enjoying this microscopy, and restoring my 50 year old microscope. I hope I'm not posting too much here - I keep telling myself to slow it down but then I keep finding these cool things in my tank!

Tonight I found this ciliated creature in a sample from the water column. It looked like it had a bunch of flat plates of some sort stuck to its body. At first I though it must be a common ciliate that was trapped under some plate-like debris, but then I kept seeing more of them on the same slide, there were literally dozens if not hundreds of them! Here is a video at 500X:

Here's a photo of 5 more of them:

There were many more of them and they all had the same appearance. Any idea what these are?

 

[mcarroll]

I do not know what it is.

Behavior seems more barnacle like than cilliate, don't you think?

 

[RobertK]

I do not know what it is.

Behavior seems more barnacle like than cilliate, don't you think?

They did seem stationary under the cover slip so I don't know how they move about. But these were collected from the water column, using a pitcher to pour tank water through a 25 micron sieve, so I would think they must be motile.

One other observation: that sample was taken when the aquarium lights were on, and there were a large number of them all with similar appearance. I took another sample from the water column using the same collection technique a few hours later after lights off and did not see a single one of them.

 

[EnterName]

I'm really enjoying this microscopy, and restoring my 50 year old microscope. I hope I'm not posting too much here - I keep telling myself to slow it down but then I keep finding these cool things in my tank!

Tonight I found this ciliated creature in a sample from the water column. It looked like it had a bunch of flat plates of some sort stuck to its body. At first I though it must be a common ciliate that was trapped under some plate-like debris, but then I kept seeing more of them on the same slide, there were literally dozens if not hundreds of them! Here is a video at 500X:

Here's a photo of 5 more of them:

There were many more of them and they all had the same appearance. Any idea what these are?

No need to slow it down if you ask me Thank you so much for sharing these, it's impossible to find everything in one tank, so I really appreciate the help.

It looks like these things have some kind of shell around them. Is it possible you are accidentally squishing them? If you have petroleum jelly or similar you can add a little bit to the edges of the cover glass. That should ensure you don't squash them. Alternatively place another cover glass left and right from the sample and place the actual cover glass on top of both like a little bridge.

 

[Freenow54]

Amazing thanks for sharing . Maybe someone else has the issue of not having the video play. If so just click the " enhance button in the frame.

 

[RobertK]

It looks like these things have some kind of shell around them. Is it possible you are accidentally squishing them? If you have petroleum jelly or similar you can add a little bit to the edges of the cover glass. That should ensure you don't squash them. Alternatively place another cover glass left and right from the sample and place the actual cover glass on top of both like a little bridge.

I don't think I was squishing them, at least not more than I ever squish anything else. I dropped the coverslip onto the slide and gently mopped up the excess water with a tissue. If those scale-like plates are fractured shell fragments then the shells must be very fragile.

I repeated the same exact collection procedure today, 24 hours after I found them yesterday, same time of day with lights on, and I used your anti-squish slide preparation technique. Did not see a single one of them. I even repeated the procedure with twice the amount of water poured through the sieve (20 liters vs. 10), they were not there today. I must have caught a bloom of them yesterday, whatever they were. Strange. Will keep an eye out for them.

I did see this little guy though. Sorry for the poor video quality, he was moving fast and kept going in and out of focus, but I thought he was cute!

 

[EnterName]

It looks like these things have some kind of shell around them. Is it possible you are accidentally squishing them? If you have petroleum jelly or similar you can add a little bit to the edges of the cover glass. That should ensure you don't squash them. Alternatively place another cover glass left and right from the sample and place the actual cover glass on top of both like a little bridge.

I don't think I was squishing them, at least not more than I ever squish anything else. I dropped the coverslip onto the slide and gently mopped up the excess water with a tissue. If those scale-like plates are fractured shell fragments then the shells must be very fragile.

I repeated the same exact collection procedure today, 24 hours after I found them yesterday, same time of day with lights on, and I used your anti-squish slide preparation technique. Did not see a single one of them. I even repeated the procedure with twice the amount of water poured through the sieve (20 liters vs. 10), they were not there today. I must have caught a bloom of them yesterday, whatever they were. Strange. Will keep an eye out for them.

I did see this little guy though. Sorry for the poor video quality, he was moving fast and kept going in and out of focus, but I thought he was cute!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/microscopy-thread.1138845/post-14386145

Second video in post 39 shows a similar specimen but probably younger. The head shape is very distinctive.

 

[RobertK]

 

[EnterName]

That's quite a big boy. Magnification 200x or 400x?

 

[RobertK]

photo is 200X, video 100X

 

[Freenow54]

Amazing stuff Thanks

 

[RobertK]

Found this thing in the water column after lights out, collected with a 25 micron sieve. Looks like something that is about to hatch! I watched it for a long time but it did not emerge for me. This is at 400X.

 

[mcarroll]

This should be the video for an indigestion med advertisement.

"This is your belly. This [*queue your vid*] is your belly on too many beers and pizza!"

 

[Freenow54]

I have tried everything that I know but your video wont play

 

[RobertK]

I have tried everything that I know but your video wont play

Are you using the app or a computer? I've heard that videos don't always play with the app.
Here, try this:

 

[EnterName]

Video plays fine in the browser.
The App still doesn't show any videos, I don't know when they are going to fix it.

 

[Freenow54]

Are you using the app or a computer? I've heard that videos don't always play with the app.
Here, try this:

No it is on my PC just spins no picture . This site continuously is throwing curve balls

 

[EnterName]

Dinoflagellates
(Prorocentrum sp.)​

cf. Prorocentrum is the third of the common dinoflagellate genera in our tanks, next to Amphidinium and Ostreopsis. Unlike most other dinoflagellates, they don't have a groove running around the middle of the cell (Verma et al., 2019), which makes them look surprisingly plain compared to their relatives.

It took ages to find a cell in my tank...

(cf. Prorocentrum sp. with a large central pyrenoid and visible theca "border", 630× mag. DIC)​

Common Name	Dinos / Dinoflagellates / Prorocentrum
Classification	cf. Prorocentrum sp. [1]
Verdict	Potentially harmful (toxicity varies a lot between species and strains)
Size	≈ 18 - 60μm (benthic species)
Found	Substrate, Rockwork, Glass, Macroalgae
Rarity	Obligatory (either rare or they take over)

Like Ostreopsis, they are armored with a theca, but in Prorocentrum it is made of just two large plates that fit together like the two halves of a clam (Verma et al., 2019). The cells are yellow-brown, and many of them have a large round spot in the middle (the pyrenoid), which often looks like a ring under the microscope (Steidinger & Meave del Castillo, 2018). If you see that ring, it's a good first hint that you're looking at a Prorocentrum cell, but sometimes you will see it in Amphidinium as well.

At first glance they can be confused with Amphidinium, but Amphidinium has no theca, and many of its cells turn round on the slide within a few minutes (Karafas et al., 2017). Prorocentrum keeps its shape. If you're still not sure, a bit of bleach could dissolve the cell and leave just the theca behind. Hydrogen peroxide is also worth a try.

Prorocentrum lives on sand, rock, algae and detritus (Verma et al., 2019). The cells stick to surfaces and rarely swim (Fukuyo, 1981), and they grow slowly (Varkitzi et al., 2010). Some species are known to produce toxins (Verma et al., 2019), so like with the other dinos it's wise to be careful with a bloom.

(Same cell as above at 400× mag. DIC for more depth of field showing the pale anterior at the top right)​

[1]: No groove, a two-plate theca and a central pyrenoid all point to Prorocentrum (Steidinger & Meave del Castillo, 2018; Verma et al., 2019). However, the species can't be told apart with a normal light microscope, so I kept the "cf.", just like in the Amphidinium post. For those interested in species-level identification there is a quite nice taxonomic key available online.

I hope I fill find more cells soon so I can provide more and even better images possibly including an isolated theca

Sources:

1. Fukuyo, 1981 - Taxonomical Study on Benthic Dinoflagellates Collected in Coral Reefs​
2. Karafas et al., 2017 - An evaluation of the genus Amphidinium (Dinophyceae) combining evidence from morphology, phylogenetics, and toxin production, with the introduction of six novel species​
3. Steidinger & Meave del Castillo, 2018 - Guide to the Identification of Harmful Microalgae in the Gulf of Mexico, Volume I: Taxonomy​
4. Varkitzi et al., 2010 - Unbalanced N:P ratios and nutrient stress controlling growth and toxin production of the harmful dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima (Ehrenberg) Dodge​
5. Verma et al., 2019 - Morphology and Phylogenetics of Benthic Prorocentrum Species (Dinophyceae) from Tropical Northwestern Australia​

 

[EnterName]

[...]
Most of the ciliates I see under bright light microscopy are either clear or off white in color. This one is bright red which I thought was cool. 200X.

I finally found one myself!