ostracod 'butterfly'

[Litonotus]

Yesterday I tried not to squish an ostracod, I almost succeded - it split in two and died after that.


4 image stack, 10/0,26 PZO Plan objective

[Mitch640]

I've done this to a number of cyclops too. There must be a way to look at something in a drop of water with a 10x and not need a coverslip and not get the refraction of a curved surface.

[Jan l'Amie]

Use a little more water and place the cover glass very carefull.
I can even make 25x photo's from waterfleas whitout killing them.
Take a look at my picture of the living ostracod. (10x used)
There is an other way:
Create a kind of space between the object glass and the cover.
Make a little square with Typex tape or you can also make little ,,legs,, with dental wax and place the cover glass on that. So you create a kind of tiny ,,aquarium,, at your object glass. You can also buy some object glasses with a little hollow in the centre.

[Litonotus]

here is what I usually use: I place broken coverslips around the specimen (one or two layers), give more water than usual and then put a coverslip. It works good with copepods, water fleas and larvaes and prevents them from both squishing and moving. The ostracod is too thick for that.

[Jan l'Amie]

I made the photo of the living ostracod whitout any extra space, only a little more water.

[Mitch640]

I also use a well slide, plus 4 spots of dried nail polish around it and often a cyclops will turn sideways, just as I drop the coverslip on it.

[Litonotus]

I heard about glycerine - You add it to water to make the orgnisms to move slower, but I only heard about that, no experimentaly confirmed results.

[Mitch640]

I was wondering about glycerin, as a way to get them under a liquid, but not have the bubble form to it, then you would not need a coverslip at all.