MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hi all, happy earth-day, happy Easter 2022. This 2/22 winter hike for microscopy specimens, good doggie and I of course found frozen solid tree-stump waters...so no collection at this collection site..by default...I elected to collect a water sample from our artificial pond.

This 38 ft x18 ft wide pond ( a mesocosm) has open water only at the 10 ft depth deep end, due aerator constant churning, the rest of this midwinter pond is covered by approx. 3 inches of surface ice ( 2.53 cm per inch).

Wonderfully, and by chance ( I usually avoid deep waters in full winter season) this my first microscopal encounter with fresh water dinoflagellates, please enjoy these winter flagellates.

These winter dinoflagellates are a first time encounter for me. Please understand that freshwater dinoflagellates are poorly understood as nobody has done the field work effort to surrvey north american freshwaters for dinoflagellate organisms.

These charming flagellates constantly tumbled as they spiral swam about.

The colonial flagellate : Genus Dinobryon also graced my wet mount slides from this winter microscopy collection hike. Please enjoy, please all be safe and well. charlie guevara/ finger lakes, US

Great finds! Hadn’t seen those dinoflagellates before, and love the colonial flagellates!

Thanks for looking. 'sci-guy'. Our north-hemisphere / North America has so many dynoflagellates to be encountered/ to be documented and described. All the best in your microscopy.

Those are always wonderful. I have mused sometimes whether they are responsible for the development of eyes.

This is great, Charlie. Thanks for sharing!

Hi, Javier, apo, and all. Wow, apochronaut...your opine regards to 'eyes', quite precient! Our mammalian eyes sensors (rods and cones) are indeed modified cilium structures. Of course with a legacy of cellular 'support systems'.

In protists ( light seeking flagellates, etc. protozoa, or light intolerant protozoans...or in 'picky/ choosey '/'goldilocks: 'just right level and quality of light insolation'...cilia/ flagella systems evolved to coordinate with systems of pigments which can be moved about.. to either shield the light receptors/ protect the light receptors...all the while orienting the organism . As we all know..intracellular microtubular scaffolds dynamically form/ dynamically disassemble , as needs for literally movement of organelles ( be it chloroplasts, pigment shields for chloroplasts, all sorts of 'basic housekeeping duties' for cell level of getting on with the work of living )...as needs to shuffle organelles about within the cell ( eukaryotic cells mind you, another pattern/ another strategy occurrs in prokaryote cells, and viruses...err..where are prions in this dense community of players?!) .

Delightfully all this drama plays out for we microscopists with light stands, when we enjoy lightmicroscopy observations at our benches. all the best, charlie g/finger lakes.US