Algae identification help please

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Bucha
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:41 pm

Algae identification help please

#1 Post by Bucha » Sun Jul 08, 2018 6:20 pm

Hi, I am a freshwater planted aquarium person trying to identify common algae genera. My microscope has no name on it, we bought is in 2003 for $200 USD, and we think it was made in Canada. My husband works on a lathe, so we took our old cheap Kodak EasyShare C913 and machined it to fit the microscope on the top of ocular via aluminum tube. My photos are not beautiful by this forum standards, but I desperately need identification help. My algae post is:https://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/for ... ase-2.html
Attached are:
5. General view on a PLASTIC plant.
4. Two types of cells in the same filament and pseudo-branching of cells type 1
3. Close-up of pseudo-branching of cells type 1
2. Close-up of cells type 1
1. Close-up of cells type 2 with a unique "bend" found very rarely
PLEASE help to identify this algae.
Attachments
Close-up of cells type 2 with a unique "bend" found very rarely
Close-up of cells type 2 with a unique "bend" found very rarely
100_2700.jpg (44.77 KiB) Viewed 3279 times
Close-up of cells type 1
Close-up of cells type 1
100_2718.jpg (62.34 KiB) Viewed 3279 times
Close-up of pseudo-branching of cells type 1
Close-up of pseudo-branching of cells type 1
100_2714.jpg (85.58 KiB) Viewed 3279 times
Two types of cells in the same filament and pseudo-branching of cells type 1
Two types of cells in the same filament and pseudo-branching of cells type 1
100_2706.jpg (50.75 KiB) Viewed 3279 times
General view on a PLASTIC plant
General view on a PLASTIC plant
_DSC0611.jpg (81.22 KiB) Viewed 3279 times

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75RR
Posts: 8207
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:34 am
Location: Estepona, Spain

Re: Algae identification help please

#2 Post by 75RR » Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:01 pm

I can't help with the identification but some info on where they were sourced as well as their size (width) might help someone to ID them.
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

Bucha
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:41 pm

Re: Algae identification help please

#3 Post by Bucha » Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:21 pm

The algae is from a freshwater aquarium in an aquatic store in Denver, Colorado, USA. My guess it that filament diameter is 10-20 micrometers. Thank you!

PNWmossnerd
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2018 6:26 pm
Location: Corvallis, Oregon

Re: Algae identification help please

#4 Post by PNWmossnerd » Mon Sep 24, 2018 1:51 pm

This appears to be some kind of filamentous cyanobacterium which exhibits double false branching (such as Scytonema).

Check out this link for info on false branching:
https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/reso ... -branching

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