Amoeba amongst Diatoms in Darkfield
Leitz Ortholux
Darkfield provided by Leitz .80 NA dry darkfield condenser
Leitz 45X Achromat objective
10X Periplan GF projection eyepiece plus 1/3X relay lens
Canon 10D
Strobe illumination through 1inch beam splitter
Photoshop enhancements
Nothing spectacular or earth shattering here image wise but I am curious about the different contents of the two upper verses the two bottom creatures. These are examples of young and old, or two different species of amoeba that appeared in a month long micro aquaria experiment after a bloom of diatoms. The darkfield made the extremities difficult to see, so the outlines of the amoeba are almost invisible, especially in the lower two frames. The amoeba there can be defined as an oval drawn around the blue glow.
The diatoms seen inside them are actually being seen through them. What distinguished the young or small amoebas from the larger were the square to oval crystal like nodules swirling inside their constantly moving bodies. Why the difference?
Walt
