Lepadella patella Rotifer In ProtoSlo - Video

[Mitch640]

For this sample, I placed a large drop of ProtoSlo on the center of the slide. ProtoSlo is Methyl Cellulose in a 1.5% solution. You can buy it at biological supply companies like Carolina. What it does is to thicken the water and no doubt drug the little microbes into slowing down enough to capture them on film or digital sensors in the low light conditions of the microscope tube.

The trick to using ProtoSlo is to place the Methyl Cellulose on the slide first, then add the sample water. By itself, the liquid is like a liquid hair shampoo, thick like syrup, and clear. I don't know for sure, but I think it might have glycerin in it also.

If you first add your sample, then try and add the ProtoSlo, it will form bubbles as you squeeze out the ProtoSlo from a pipette, and those bubbles will not burst. Best to add the ProtoSlo first, then the sample. I also stirred my mixture around on the slide a bit, using a toothpick, then added the coverslip.

The ProtoSlo takes a few minutes to start working, and on some bugs, like the Coleps, it doesn't seem to work near as well as on Rotifers. It does not kill them though, although in my early experiments, some of them, such as stylonychia, do not act normal. More like drunken sailors on the boardwalk.

This video is pieced together from footage of two different animals. The beginning shots are of before the ProtoSlo took effect, so a lot of out of focus parts where the rotifer is moving around a lot. It gets better though, as the slowing agent starts to take effect, the bug slows down and the images become sharper.

[RogelioMoreno]

Mitch,

Thank you for the info.

Rogelio

[fpelectronica]

Hello
Interesting information
Francisco

[Mitch640]

Thanks Rogelio and Francisco. It took a few attempts to get the right sequence of events, but when adding the water drop last, it works much better. I think it will take more experimentation to see what the proper dose should be though. For this slide, I actually used more Methyl Cellulose than I did sample water, and yet, at the end of my recording, there were still Coleps and Stylonychiam swimming around quite fast, although not in straight lines. Possibly, it needs more, or, it needs to be mixed better.