first flash result, a synchaeta with fungi...Wim van Egmond

[twebster]

Submitted by Wim van Egmond...



I finally post an image made with the new flash on the microscope. The first moving organism I photographed was this Synchaeta, a predatory rotifer. I had it trapped under the coverslip so I could have done this wihout flash. But I think it is sharper than the images I made without flash. And the little cilia are also sharp.

I was intrigued by this type of fungi that spead throughout this predatory rotifer. There is also an enigmatic round object left to the big trophi. Does anybody have a suggestion what it may be?

This image was made with a 25X plan apo I recently bought from a friend. I am happy with it. The depth of field is very shallow especially with the full aperture used in DIC but I combined two focus layers to get the most important parts in focus.

I hope to have time to do more photography soon. I hope to do dark field too!

Wim

[Martin Kreutz]

Hi Wim,

today I surfed through the "Administrator's Appreciation Gallary" and found this two years old post of you. I guess I can help with the ID of the "fungi" within Synchaeta. You are right with the ID fungi. It's the parasitic fungi Bertramia asperospora . Many rotifers can be affected by this endoparasite. Below you find two of my images of Bertramia asperospora (both images are 10 years old). You can find this species in:

Voigt, M. (1957): Rotatoria. Die Rädertiere Mitteleuropas. Bornträger, Berlin. 505 pp

Martin

[Martin Kreutz]

Hi Wim,

I've forgotten a little detail. The round, bright object in your image of Synchaeta is a Betramia spore in apical view (that means along the longitudinal axis of the spore).

Martin