Marine Stentor?

[KurtM]

I found this guy in one of my plankton net hauls from Galveston Bay. Looks like a Stentor to me, but I was unaware that Stentors are found in saltwater. But then most aquatic protists do have marine counterparts, so perhaps so. It certainly looks like Stentor to me, what do you think?

tlansing: Here are some images taken with flash. They were shot through the 10x, 20x, and 40x objectives, although the 40x shot was made with the 40/0.65 S plan achro, and not the 40/0.95 S plan apo, on account of the ultra short working distance of the high NA apo lens and generous layer of water under the cover slip which make an unworkable combination.

[Greg Howald]

Great photos!

[tlansing]

Hi Kurt. Those are some really nice photos! I would be very interested to know how your flash is set up, since there are many ways I have seen people report for setting up their flash for photomicroscopy. Have you also used different flash outputs? This is one of the really useful features of the Canon camera I use, along with the EOS Utilities software. I really like using flash, since it really makes the photos sharp, as your photos so vividly show. Also great for capturing those fast moving beasties. Thanks for sharing!

BTW, looks like a Stentor to me. http://species-identification.org/speci ... ao&id=1441

Tim

[RobBerdan]

Very nice pictures - looks like you used DIC or oblique lighting. I spent time down in Houston, but the water around Galveston wasn't very clearn I remember.
Nice shots
RB

[KurtM]

Hi Kurt. Those are some really nice photos! I would be very interested to know how your flash is set up...

Hi Tim, and thanks! I use a simple arrangement of beamsplitter and speedlite, see pic below. It must be noted that recording living critters - or at least fast-moving living critters - isn't high on my list of things to do, being mostly interested in diatoms, so I haven't really done much with it. I'm afraid that at this time my strobe is smarter than I am.

Very nice pictures - looks like you used DIC or oblique lighting. I spent time down in Houston, but the water around Galveston wasn't very clearn I remember.
Nice shots
RB

Thanks, Robert! Scope used was an Olympus BHS BH-2 with DIC. There's nothing the matter with your memory, that's for sure; all naturally occurring water in southeast Texas is turbid. It wasn't until I was old enough for a license to drive and my roaming began that I discovered clear water was an actual real natural thing, and not just some fabrication made up in movies and TV! So I'm used to it, and can never quite understand how Galveston passes for a beachfront resort with such dirty water and dingy sand. When were you hear and what were you doing, I wonder?