Tunicates (Ascidians) have so called tadpole larvae. Most adult Ascidians live a sessile life, their larval stages develop in marine plankton. In a sample from last fall I found several different shaped larvae. It is always hard when an unfamiliar organism is non motile to see if it is fresh or dead. I am not sure if the first image is healthy or decaying. But they seem to be different stages of the same species, the last images of the earliest stage.
The last image is alive. I combined 2 images. One with a flash, and one with a flash and a longer exposure so you see the movement. In the last brightfield I used polarised filters to create some colours. It is a bit of a crued set because I was not sure if they were alive so I was a bit lazy.
I stil have to find out wich species it is. I had never seen them before. The sea is always full of surprises.
Wim
