A Tardigrade, or water bear. I simply love these creatures, partly because of their cuddly movement and their amazing ability of cryptobiosis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFXQN9AIExU
Handheld shot from the 10X mono eyepiece of an Olympus CH , at 10X, with a Sony DSC-WX1.
The audio and autofocus can't be shut off and focus is hunting, sorry for that.
Darkfield is done with a 1 euro coin on the condensor.
I just started this hobby and it's my first attempt at photomacrography.
All comments are welcome.
Not the type and quality of imagery (and certainly not the equipment) you're use to on this wonderful forum.
I'm amazed and awestruck at the stuff I see here and learn a lot from you out there. Thank you all !
Tardigrade / water bear (video)
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Tardigrade / water bear (video)
Last edited by canonian on Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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rjlittlefield
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Water bears
Thank you for the encouragement Rik. It was your post that got me exited and started.
I recently bought a Canon Rebel T2i and took a bid on ebay (and lost) on a Nikon CFI 10X objective.
When build and operational, which will take me a while, I hope to post some results.
Mitch, about the waterbears: at the first search I struck gold.
Some mosses gathered in a bicylce shed at my work gave me plenty of these critters to look at under my old Olympus SZ-III stereo microscope.
I usually place the mosses upside down in a petri-dish and add some rainwater.
Leave the wet mosses to rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
Then gently squeeze the moss like a sponge and the water in the petridish will contain between 2 to 6 tardigrades, results may vary.
The samples may also contains some bdelloid rotifers and nematodes, which are also interesting to look at.
Leave the debris in. With good magnificfation you can see their stilettes in action while they feed on the debris.
Under my Olympus CH I pippette them out and place them on a slide with a cavity to give them plenty of room to swim.
These mosses can be placed on the shelf to work with later thanks to the anhydrobiosis character of the tardigrades; the're like instant coffee, just add water.
I managed to revive desiccated bears after 3 months. It is simply wonderful to see them waking up. Here you can see a timelapse recording of the whole process.
I will gather some mosses later today and try to post photo's of them, so you know what to look for.
I recently bought a Canon Rebel T2i and took a bid on ebay (and lost) on a Nikon CFI 10X objective.
When build and operational, which will take me a while, I hope to post some results.
Mitch, about the waterbears: at the first search I struck gold.
Some mosses gathered in a bicylce shed at my work gave me plenty of these critters to look at under my old Olympus SZ-III stereo microscope.
I usually place the mosses upside down in a petri-dish and add some rainwater.
Leave the wet mosses to rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
Then gently squeeze the moss like a sponge and the water in the petridish will contain between 2 to 6 tardigrades, results may vary.
The samples may also contains some bdelloid rotifers and nematodes, which are also interesting to look at.
Leave the debris in. With good magnificfation you can see their stilettes in action while they feed on the debris.
Under my Olympus CH I pippette them out and place them on a slide with a cavity to give them plenty of room to swim.
These mosses can be placed on the shelf to work with later thanks to the anhydrobiosis character of the tardigrades; the're like instant coffee, just add water.
I managed to revive desiccated bears after 3 months. It is simply wonderful to see them waking up. Here you can see a timelapse recording of the whole process.
I will gather some mosses later today and try to post photo's of them, so you know what to look for.
I'd love to see the mosses your using. I have tried two different kinds, one that grew right on the ground under a Lilac bush in my yard, and one moss that grows on our roof, in the shade. I did put them in a small jar with enough water to cover them. We have well water, with no chemicals, so it should have been fine. I have since collected a jar of rainwater though.
I squeezed out the water into another small jar, but mostly it's just particles with nothing alive in it. I need to get some more mosses though, as it's starting to get cold here and will freeze over soon.
I look forward to your pics.
I squeezed out the water into another small jar, but mostly it's just particles with nothing alive in it. I need to get some more mosses though, as it's starting to get cold here and will freeze over soon.
I look forward to your pics.
Hope this will help, Mitch. I don't know if this is a good shot or if you recognise this.
These type of mosses are found everywhere here in Holland, usually on roofs.
They also can be found in lichens, but I haven't looked there.
Tardigrades thrive in this kind of moss, I took a quick look at the patch and counted 5 of them, and there's most certainly more.
Which magnification you use when searching for water bears? I begin to spot them at 60X or 80X under a stereo microscope.
Once you find your first one (for me it was a great moment of joy) you will easily recognise them by their movement and behaviour.
And Rik, is it anyway possible you can show more shots taken with the Rebel T1i /Nikon CFI Plan combo of other subjects?
These type of mosses are found everywhere here in Holland, usually on roofs.
They also can be found in lichens, but I haven't looked there.
Tardigrades thrive in this kind of moss, I took a quick look at the patch and counted 5 of them, and there's most certainly more.
Which magnification you use when searching for water bears? I begin to spot them at 60X or 80X under a stereo microscope.
Once you find your first one (for me it was a great moment of joy) you will easily recognise them by their movement and behaviour.
And Rik, is it anyway possible you can show more shots taken with the Rebel T1i /Nikon CFI Plan combo of other subjects?
Sorry to hear this Mitch, looks like you found the right type of moss (if there is a right type !?!)
I've added more images.
These are the results of a speck of moss 2 x 2 cm in size, scraped from the stone gate in front of my house.:
Same recipe: get moss,
Soak moss in petridish in 4mm of rainwater, leave for 1 hour,
Squeeze moss in petridish. Look what's in the water. If you start to see rotifers, you're at the right magnification.
Here's one water bear:
..and here's two more.
In the last two picture I outlined them, camera on my stereo microscope is an old nikon coolpix 990, no sharp pictures can be taken from it.
No flash, not enough light, so to long exposure for the squirming bears. Just taken just to illustrate the finds.
I'm not very long into microscopy , guess just lucky to find tardigrades.
Mind you, in Holland it rains often, keeping the moss green and moisty and probably a good environment for water bears.
---Fred
I've added more images.
These are the results of a speck of moss 2 x 2 cm in size, scraped from the stone gate in front of my house.:
Same recipe: get moss,
Soak moss in petridish in 4mm of rainwater, leave for 1 hour,
Squeeze moss in petridish. Look what's in the water. If you start to see rotifers, you're at the right magnification.
Here's one water bear:
..and here's two more.
In the last two picture I outlined them, camera on my stereo microscope is an old nikon coolpix 990, no sharp pictures can be taken from it.
No flash, not enough light, so to long exposure for the squirming bears. Just taken just to illustrate the finds.
I'm not very long into microscopy , guess just lucky to find tardigrades.
Mind you, in Holland it rains often, keeping the moss green and moisty and probably a good environment for water bears.
---Fred
Last edited by canonian on Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Congratulations, Mitch ! The search finally pays of.
Bet your heart made a small jump at the first glance, I know mine did.
Really looking forward to your pics/video.
-------
Fred
Bet your heart made a small jump at the first glance, I know mine did.
Really looking forward to your pics/video.
-------
Fred
Last edited by canonian on Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I didn't know what it was at first, cause I had been watching this huge Nematode worm right next to him, out of the field of view. Then I scanned to the right, and there he was. I'll post the stills and a link to my video in a few minutes. Thanks for your detailed explanation on how to find them, it helped.
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Charles Krebs
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Fred,
Very nice. And I also appreciated the link to the dehydrating/re-hydrating clip. One other amazing characteristic of these creatures is their ability (in the "tun" state) to survive relatively huge amounts of ionizing radiation, far in excess of the amount that would be lethal to other animals.
It was also very thoughtful to provide such detail on your collecting techniques.
Very nice. And I also appreciated the link to the dehydrating/re-hydrating clip. One other amazing characteristic of these creatures is their ability (in the "tun" state) to survive relatively huge amounts of ionizing radiation, far in excess of the amount that would be lethal to other animals.
It was also very thoughtful to provide such detail on your collecting techniques.
If you get "hooked" on video, you might want to download VirtualDub. It's free and a very good editing program for video clips like this. And it should be easy to strip out (or add) audio if desired.The audio and autofocus can't be shut off
Thanks, Charles.
My recently bought camera also has HD-video capabilities so I might look into that. But first I want to concentrate on good quality, clear and crispy pictures.
I discover that vibration is my first wall to conquer. I've read some excellent pages on that subject by your hand.
You set a great example for me and although I can't possible reach the level you have.
I just started and there's a lot to learn, I'm on a tight budget so there is a lot of DIY involved, but that is a big part of the fun in this hobby.
Like they say : Rome wasn't build in 1 day. I hope I will improve in time.
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Fred
My recently bought camera also has HD-video capabilities so I might look into that. But first I want to concentrate on good quality, clear and crispy pictures.
I discover that vibration is my first wall to conquer. I've read some excellent pages on that subject by your hand.
You set a great example for me and although I can't possible reach the level you have.
I just started and there's a lot to learn, I'm on a tight budget so there is a lot of DIY involved, but that is a big part of the fun in this hobby.
Like they say : Rome wasn't build in 1 day. I hope I will improve in time.
----------
Fred
I just saw your video's Mitch, You've got a real lively one there. Now you understand why I couldn't get sharp pictures of them.
He's in great sync too; Sometimes it seems he is playing the piano in your backgroundmusic, which- by the way- is an excellent piece.
A lot of interesting information can be found on the internet. They even shot some into space ! And survived the trip!
There's some detailed sites which provide a lot of side-info on the subject of tardigrades: http://www.baertierchen.de/main_engl.html is very easy readable and http://tardigrades.net/e-index.html.
The more I read about them , the more interesting they get. I think science can learn a lot from the water bears.
---------
Fred
He's in great sync too; Sometimes it seems he is playing the piano in your backgroundmusic, which- by the way- is an excellent piece.
A lot of interesting information can be found on the internet. They even shot some into space ! And survived the trip!
There's some detailed sites which provide a lot of side-info on the subject of tardigrades: http://www.baertierchen.de/main_engl.html is very easy readable and http://tardigrades.net/e-index.html.
The more I read about them , the more interesting they get. I think science can learn a lot from the water bears.
---------
Fred