I thought I would share some photos of several different and interesting cyanobacteria that I have observed over the past months. Many of these have population explosions (blooms) in the spring and summer in ponds leading to very large numbers of these cyanobacteria and production of toxins. Several of these have names that are quite a mouthful. Recently, I have seen blooms of Aphanizomenon in several of my local lakes and ponds. So, here are some photos:
Aphanizomenon: These form clumps of roughly parallel strands of cells, as in the first photo. In the second photo, some detail of a single strand can be seen, including the bulbous heterocyst, where nitrogen fixation takes place.
Merismopedia: This cyanobacterium forms sheet-like colonies of cells in which the cells are mucilaginous matrix.
Dolichospermum: The cells of this cyanobacterium form spirals with a mucilaginous coating. Two heterocysts are also visible.
Nostoc: I'm sure everyone has seen this one, but I like the arrangement of the filaments of cells in this picture. Heterocysts are also visible in this cyanobacterium.
A selection of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
Re: A selection of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
Beautiful images!
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Re: A selection of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
Lots of interesting details. Thanks for sharing!
Re: A selection of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
Alexander, Javier, Hobbyst46 and Jochen: thanks for your nice comments!