fmorales369's Favorites

Mag. 400x
Has the bloody color (red-orange) of Vampyrella (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampyrella). V. lateritia is a strong contender for species, see images and description here https://arcella.nl/vampyrella-lateritia/. Moved surprisingly quickly (by axopod contraction, I think). In the last image, the observed rapid movement to the right has caused some of the lateral axopods to assume a swepted-back curvature.

• A water sample was taken on 10/21/2022, from the shore of one of the impoundments, using a 10µ dip net to enrich for microbes. Air temp. 65°F.

Mag. 400x
Similar to cyanobaceria Merismopedia, but with a more random and tesselated cell arrangement. Appears to have no mucilaginous sheath. Very cool! For comparison, see: https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=nstdaily&logNo=150037775947&view=img_8 and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237991507_Occurrence_of_the_rare_genus_Microcrocis_P_Richter_Chroococcales_Cyanobacteria_in_a_coastal_lagoon_from_southern_Brazil. According to AlgaeBase, 2 species are found in marine and estuarine environments, M. sabulicola and M. marina, and are candidate IDs for the current specimen. https://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=44298&-session=abv4:AC1F249F13c7d2CB6AQv2999E6DA
A shoreline water sample was taken on 8/9/2021 from a cove off the Thames River estuary (New London county, CT - brackish) using a 10 micron dip net to enrich for microorganisms.

Mag. 100x (1), 400x (2&3)
Large, transparent rotifer, similar to Testudinella patina as seen here (similarly retracted into lorica) https://www.biolib.cz/en/image/id294315/. The video shows no movement except within the digestive tract https://youtu.be/eupS0zwgEhk.

• A bog water sample was taken on 3/15/2022 using a turkey baster swished among the submerged stems of sphagnum moss. (The area sampled was ~circular, only 15' across, and was dominated by sphagnum. Large trees and shrubs shaded the area; a small brook flowed from the circular impoundment.) Air temp. 50F

From a pond with residual snow and ice, similar to the habitat in which Foissner collected the type species Wallackia schiffmanni. Oral structures are in the "Gonostomum pattern," inwardly displaced CV at bottom of AZM, very long and widely space caudal cirri, 2-nodule macronucleus. Ventral cirri were observed in vivo, as 2 long rows. Photographic records of the genus are extremely scarce.

Asterionellopsis glacialis (F. Castracane) Round 1990

Light microscope (LM) images of the diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis (Castracane) Round 1990.
Phylum: Bacillariophycophyta, Class: Bacillariophyceae, Subclass: Urneidophycidae, Order: Rhaphoneidales, Family: Fragilariaceae. Girdle view. A cosmopolitan, sometimes highly abundant marine diatom in coastal cold to temperate waters. Heteropolar cells. Cells are attached by mucilage secreted from oval ocelli, with elongate openings, at the valve faces of the basal poles (see SEM images), forming stellate and spiral colonies. Basal end is triangular in girdle view and rounded in valve view with spines along the margin. A. glacialis has a labiate process at the valve end of the thin, slightly expanded extension (apex) (visible by SEM), it can be found near to the ocellus of the apex. Two chloroplasts found in the basal pole. Live specimens from Spanish Hills Wharf, Trincomali Channel, North Galiano Island, Southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada, April 6, 2022.

Nikon E800 with 20x Apo and 40x dry lenses. Stacked images. Thank you to Arjan van Asselt and Travis Olsen for taking the plankton sample.

References:

M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2021. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 20 October 2021. http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=37056

Hoppenrath, M., Elbrachter, M., Drebes, G. (2009) Marine Phytoplankton, Selected microphytoplankton species from the North Sea around Helgoland and Sylt. pp. 103-104, figs 44 m-n. E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbunchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany.

Horner, R. A. (2002), A Taxonomic Guide to Some Common Marine Phytoplankton. p. 93. Biopress Ltd., Bristol.

Hasle, G.R. & Syvertsen, E.E. (1997). Marine Diatoms. In: Identifying Marine Phytoplankton. (Tomas, C.R. Eds.), pp. 241-243. San Diego: Academic Press.

F.E. Round, R.M. Crawford, D.G. Mann, 1990, The Diatoms, Biology & Morphology of the Genera, pp. 392-393. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Thalassiosira cf. nordenskioeldii Cleve 1873

LM images of the marine diatom Thalassiosira cf. nordenskioeldii (Castracane) Hasle 1983. Phylum: Bacillariophycophyta, Subphylum: Bacillariophytina, Class: Mediophyceae, Order: Thalassiosirales, Family: Thalassiosiraceae. Girdle view. Thalassiosira nordenskioeldii cells are cylindrical to discoid and usually joined together in long chains. In girdle view T. nordenskioeldii cells appear as octagonal discs. They have a pronounced concavity at the valve center from which a thick mucilage tube connects to the centre of a neighbouring cell. Mantle edges are beveled. Long radiating mucilage threads exit from the prominent marginal strutted processes at the bend between the valve face and the mantle.

Cell diameter is recorded between 10-50 µm in diameter (Horner 2002: 29).

Abundant, especially during the spring bloom in the Trincomali Channel. Collected by a 20 µm plankton net April 6, 2022 from the Spanish Hills Wharf (N48˚ 59.688’, W123˚ 35.064’), Trincomali Channel, Galiano Island, Southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada.

Imaging with a Nikon E800, 20x Apo NA 0.75 and a MU2003 BI 20 MP camera and adjusted in PhotoShop.
Thank you Arjan van Asselt and Travis Olsen for collecting the sample and Travis for co-imaging.

References:

Cupp, E. E. 1943. Marine Plankton Diatoms of the West Coast of North America. University of California Press. Berkeley, California.

Hoppenrath, M., Elbrachter, M., Drebes, G. (2009) Marine Phytoplankton, Selected microphytoplankton species from the North Sea around Helgoland and Sylt. pp. 59, figure 5. Plate 24, page 58:fig. f-k. E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbunchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany.

Horner, R. A. (2002), A Taxonomic Guide to Some Common Marine Phytoplankton. p. 31. Biopress Ltd., Bristol.

Hasle, G.R. & Syvertsen, E.E. (1996). Marine Diatoms. In: Identifying Marine Phytoplankton. (Tomas, C.R. Eds). San Diego: Academic Press.

Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2007, AlgaeBase version 4.2. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, http://algaebase.org, searched April 10, 2022.

F.E. Round, F.E., Crawford, R.M. and Mann, D.G. (1990). The Diatoms, Biology & Morphology of the Genera. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. pp. 132-133.

Fryxell, G.A. and Hasle, G.R. (1979). The genus Thalassiosira: species with internal extensions of the strutted processes. Phycologia. vol. 18 (4), 378-393.

Pienitz, R., Fedje, D. and Poulin, M. (2003) Marine and Non-Marine Diatoms from the Haida Gwaii Archipelago and Surrounding Coasts, Northeastern Pacific, Canada In Bibliotheca Diatomologica (H. Lange-Bertalot and P. Kociolek, eds.), Band 48, J. Cramer, Stuttgart, 146 pp.

Shim, J. H. (1976). Distribution and Taxonomy of Planktonic Marine Diatoms in the Strait of Georgia, B.C. Phd. Thesis, UBC. Plate VII, fig. 2a & b.

Waters, R. E., Brown, L.N., and MG Robinson, M.G. (1992). Phytoplankton of Esquimalt Lagoon, British Columbia: comparison with west Vancouver Island coastal and offshore waters. Canadian Technical Report of Hydrography Ocean Sciences 137.

Mag. 400x
Large Entomoneis (~120µ) comparable to images here https://diatoms.org/species/entomoneis_alata.
A shoreline water sample was taken on 8/26/2021 from a cove off the Thames River estuary (New London county, CT - brackish) using a 10 micron dip net to enrich for microorganisms.

Mag. 400x
3 specimens were photograph, each presented in a different image or image composite; I'm assuming they were all the same species. All were essentially oval and ranged 60-70µ in length. All had a large oral cavity (but not the huge cleft of Lembadion?). The oral cavity appears to contain an oral sail (like Pleuronema) that waves about, (best seen in the video), though I could not detect any movement of a sail beyond the bounds of the oral cavity. There appear to be 2 types of cilia, both of the same thickness: long (few) and short (many). These are easily seen in the first image. In the 3rd composite image (depicting the the smallest of the three specimens) the photo sequence records the opening of the oral cavity from a closed state ... very cool! I wish I caught the mouth opening on video, but it's still fun to view: https://youtu.be/JgQ9JYRjFBw

• A pond edge water sample (freshwater) was taken on 3/6/2022 using a 10 micron dip net to enrich for microorganisms. Air temp. 41C. Sampling area was at the inflow of a small brook that feeds the pond and was ice-free. The pond was predominantly ice covered.

Epiphyllous algal discs on Ilex vomitoria, much smaller and less branching than Cephaleuros. Spots can grow to at least 0.5 mm in diameter, probably larger. Confluent thalli stop growing outward at contact points, as shown in the first image. Vegetative cells measure 10.5–19 × 4–7 μm. Measurements are similar to Phycopeltis arundinacea, but I can't find an accessible monograph of the genus in North America.

All slides in water, scale bars for images 9-12 are 100 μm, all others are 10 μm.