Diatoms cluster near alga
Posted: 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).
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).