Water flea - Polarized (image added)

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:29 pm

Here is a set of a specimen that looks like water flea and has some kind of birefrigent.

10x polarized:

20x polarized

Rogelio

abpho · Post by **abpho** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:30 pm

Tripping. Crazy images. Thanks

Jacek · Post by **Jacek** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:23 pm

wow

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:28 pm

Very bizarre!

Looks like it overdosed on vitamin C

hayath · Post by **hayath** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:38 am

Crazy colors and details..loved these

arturoag75 · Post by **arturoag75** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:56 am

...excellent

arturo

Cactusdave · Post by **Cactusdave** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 2:59 am

It does indeed look like something birefringent has crystallized on the surface of this Cladoceran in thin plates. A calcium salt perhaps? Fascinating and attractive. Do you have a DIC or brightfield image that might help with ID and working out what the structure is that's producing the optical effect.

Litonotus · Post by **Litonotus** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:14 am

I love #2 and #4 images (:

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:49 am

Thank you all for your comments.

Cactusdave, I only have the polarized version.

Marek posted some similar on the following link:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... cladoceran

Rogelio

harisA · Post by **harisA** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 9:03 am

amazing pictures.

pwnell · Post by **pwnell** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:17 am

That is remarkable. I will remember to play with the polarizer next time I find a water flea.

Cactusdave · Post by **Cactusdave** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:10 am

Thanks for the link. My thoughts would be that as water evaporates under the coverslip, salts, probably calcium carbonate, precipitate from solution in the water probably as soluble calcium bicarbonate, in the form of thin transparent birefringent plates. The rough surface of the waterflea carapace would provide suitable crystallization nuclei from which the crystallization process would be initiated.

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:31 pm

Cactusdave wrote:Thanks for the link. My thoughts would be that as water evaporates under the coverslip, salts, probably calcium carbonate, precipitate from solution in the water probably as soluble calcium bicarbonate, in the form of thin transparent birefringent plates. The rough surface of the waterflea carapace would provide suitable crystallization nuclei from which the crystallization process would be initiated.

Normally I inspect the sample without the coverslip if I find something interesting then I cover it, I remember to have seen the thin birefringent plates on the surface of the waterflea carapace before putting the coverslip.

Thank you for your comments.

Rogelio

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:33 pm

harisA and Waldo,

Thank you for your comments.

Rogelio

discomorphella · Post by **discomorphella** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:34 pm

Thing o' beauty. Are we sure that the birefringent structures are completely external? Could they be some kind of fungal hyphae that have enough of a layered structure to provide sufficient birefringence to generate the effect? I admit they don't look exactly like any fungal structures I've ever seen before, but they do have a sort of "bud-like" or segmented structure. Really unique and beautiful.

David