Does anybody know what this is?
I wish I had video. It is full of little dots (more than show up in the photo), and they are bouncing around quite rapidly. This makes me wonder whether it is a stage of an algal (diatom?) life cycle that is full of motile sperm.
Algal structure full of moving dots
Re: Algal structure full of moving dots
It is a Desmid, most probably a Cosmarium sp.
Desmids are quite beautiful. Nice catch!
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... algdr.html
http://www.digicodes.info/Cosmarium_index.html
Desmids are quite beautiful. Nice catch!
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... algdr.html
http://www.digicodes.info/Cosmarium_index.html
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
- ImperatorRex
- Posts: 571
- Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:12 pm
- Location: Germany
- Contact:
Re: Algal structure full of moving dots
Hi Josh,
you mentioned the moving little dots. Difficult to judge because the foto does not show the details. However the algae may already be a bit damaged, since chlorophyl only partly fills the volume of the cell? So the moving dots may be bacteria that started to decompose the organic substrate? Just a guess..
you mentioned the moving little dots. Difficult to judge because the foto does not show the details. However the algae may already be a bit damaged, since chlorophyl only partly fills the volume of the cell? So the moving dots may be bacteria that started to decompose the organic substrate? Just a guess..
Re: Algal structure full of moving dots
Thanks, 75RR, fo the ID.
Regarding the moving dots, bacteria seem like a good possibility, but I don't know that the chlorophyll pattern indicates damage. Aside from the fact that it is symmetric, it appears that some Cosmarium sp. are like that, such as this one:
http://www.digicodes.info/Cosmarium_gon ... gidum.html
The Wikipedia article on Desmids (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmidiales) mentions "characteristic crystals of barium sulphate at either end of the cell[9] which exhibit a continuous Brownian type motion". Might this species have something like that not restricted to the ends of the cell? I could believe that the motion I saw was Brownian motion.
Regarding the moving dots, bacteria seem like a good possibility, but I don't know that the chlorophyll pattern indicates damage. Aside from the fact that it is symmetric, it appears that some Cosmarium sp. are like that, such as this one:
http://www.digicodes.info/Cosmarium_gon ... gidum.html
The Wikipedia article on Desmids (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmidiales) mentions "characteristic crystals of barium sulphate at either end of the cell[9] which exhibit a continuous Brownian type motion". Might this species have something like that not restricted to the ends of the cell? I could believe that the motion I saw was Brownian motion.
Re: Algal structure full of moving dots
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
Re: Algal structure full of moving dots
Thanks!
I had more dots than are visible there, and they were smaller (or the cell was larger), but I'm fairly sure that they were the same thing.