A few pond creatures

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ddy5
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 12:37 pm
Location: Maryland, USA

A few pond creatures

#1 Post by ddy5 » Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:14 pm

Just a few creatures that showed up in pond samples last fall. IDs are tentative - any corrections welcome.

Cheers, David

Technical: DIC, Nikon camera controlled with Capture One, high-speed flash
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1. Strobilidium sp. - sometimes very common; often attached to the substrate by an almost invisible strand; generate a huge feeding current
Strombilidium-hovering.jpg
Strombilidium-hovering.jpg (113.27 KiB) Viewed 764 times
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2. Mallomonas sp. - seem to be different arrangements of the spines on different individuals
Mallomonas.jpg
Mallomonas.jpg (77.12 KiB) Viewed 764 times
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3. Synura sp. surrounded by red Trachelomonas sp. - the Synura form colony balls that roll around; Trachelomonas can occur in HUGE numbers and are a food for many predators.
Synura.jpg
Synura.jpg (139.12 KiB) Viewed 764 times
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4. Looks like something with a big red eye and a long schnoz; in reality, it's a predator (maybe some sort of hypotrich?) that ate a Trachelomonas; I think the mouth is at the hairy end.
Hairy-red-eye.jpg
Hairy-red-eye.jpg (147.23 KiB) Viewed 764 times
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Last edited by ddy5 on Mon Apr 10, 2023 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

macnmotion
Posts: 524
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:13 am

Re: A few pond creatures

#2 Post by macnmotion » Tue Mar 14, 2023 12:25 am

Nice imaging. The colors help tell the stories and make the IDs.

DonSchaeffer
Posts: 3275
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:06 am
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Re: A few pond creatures

#3 Post by DonSchaeffer » Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:26 am

Great images!

tlansing
Posts: 336
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 3:15 pm

Re: A few pond creatures

#4 Post by tlansing » Tue Mar 14, 2023 3:07 pm

Really nice photos! Could you provide more details about your microscope?

Bruce Taylor
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: A few pond creatures

#5 Post by Bruce Taylor » Tue Mar 14, 2023 11:34 pm

Beautiful images!

The first one is Strobilidium caudatum ("Strombilidium" is a fairly common misspelling, because of the similar-looking genus Strombidium).

The Trachelomonas-eater is indeed a hypotrich...or part of one, at least (it might be a damaged cell, or half of a recent divider)

Sure Squintsalot
Posts: 393
Joined: Mon May 16, 2022 3:44 pm

Re: A few pond creatures

#6 Post by Sure Squintsalot » Wed Mar 15, 2023 12:31 am

Looks like all that tinkering with the lighting has really paid off!

(How big is that stuff, anyway?)

ddy5
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 12:37 pm
Location: Maryland, USA

Re: A few pond creatures

#7 Post by ddy5 » Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:08 pm

Thank you all for your kind words. To answer the questions:

- the microscope is a Nikon 80i. There was a thread a while back on flash setups that has some photos (https://www.microbehunter.com/microscop ... 28&t=17325).

- sorry, I forgot the scale bars.
the Strobilidium is 40µm wide;
the Mallomonas body length is 52 µm (the flagellum is about the same length as the body);
Trachelomonas are 17-20 µm in diameter;
the Synura ball is 120-125 µm in diameter;
the red-eye predator is about 115 µm wide.

Cheers, David

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