Diatoms cluster near alga

Here you can discuss sample and specimen preparation issues.
Post Reply
Message
Author
Hobbyst46
Posts: 4277
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:02 pm

Diatoms cluster near alga

#1 Post by Hobbyst46 » Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:02 pm

Hello
Marine alga collected from a beach "micro-natural pond" (20x4 m) that is constantly fed by the sea waves.
Mounted in the sea water, probably including particles (fine sand etc). Because of incomplete sealing with nail polish, some evaporation and drying occurred.

The size of the longest pennate diatoms is ~120 micrometers.
The dominant alga in these waters now is Sea Lettuce (Ulva Lactuca). However, diatoms apparently prefer a filamentous alga...

Please forgive the quality of these photos, improper color balance, air bubble in the first image, etc. My focus was impressed by the clustering of diatoms, forming groups of their own species on the alga. Whether this happened due to their regular multiplication process or because they clumped together under the stress of water in the slide, I do not know.
To me, some of these photos remind an aerial view of anchorage or harbor (for destroyers and small boats...).
All images are single frames except the second that is a stack of 28. First three are brightfield, fourth is phase contrast and fifth is dark field (but looks like oblique).
Attachments
Diatoms near alga.jpg
Diatoms near alga.jpg (227.77 KiB) Viewed 2204 times
Diatom harbor.jpg
Diatom harbor.jpg (103.77 KiB) Viewed 2204 times
Star-like cluster.jpg
Star-like cluster.jpg (397.07 KiB) Viewed 2204 times
Diatom clusters near alga.jpg
Diatom clusters near alga.jpg (336.68 KiB) Viewed 2204 times
dark view.jpg
dark view.jpg (229.22 KiB) Viewed 2204 times
Last edited by Hobbyst46 on Wed Apr 18, 2018 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
mrsonchus
Posts: 4175
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 9:42 pm
Location: Cumbria, UK

Re: Diatoms cluster near alga

#2 Post by mrsonchus » Tue Apr 17, 2018 10:33 pm

A really nice and very interesting set of images! I'm going have a good look-over these for sure. Thanks for posting.

John B.
John B

Post Reply