A Real Flat Worm

[Ken Ramos]

I ain't lying either, the cover slip was a bit too much for him/her/it.


Sony DSC-P200
Manual Mode
1/160 sec. @ f/2.8 ISO 100
Zeiss Axiostar Plus 10X/0.25 CP Achromat
Oblique illumination w/18mm stop off center


Sony DSC-P200
Manual Mode
1/40 sec. @ f/2.8 ISO 100
Zeiss Axiostar Plus 10X/0.25 CP Achromat
Darkfield illumination w/18mm stop

Appears to be a worm of some sort, flatworm , I don't know. However the weight of the cover slip in all reality did flatten the worm out. As you can see the protoplasm from the ruptured membrane is being oozed out. Also it appears as though this worm has a taste for diatoms.

[Wim van Egmond]

Are you sure it is not a close up of your wind screen? I'm sure it is a flatworm. The two eyes indicate that!

Yes, I have seen it happen way too often. It is not a pretty sight. We all have to deal with it. You are just too late and there is no way you can reanimate the poor thing. Microscopy is a cruel job but someone has to do it.

Although if the organism is not squashed yet adding some water to the edge of the coverslip may help .

But these two images do prove how important it is to create a very flat slide! The image quality is excellent, crisp details, much better than it would be with a thicker slide with a lot of water. So these images are very instructive. This flatworm has donated its remains to knowledge!

So it is always the trick to make the slide as flat as the organism. Without distorting them too much. And that is a matter of timing. Ken, I know these remarks are a bit redundant, we all probably have the same experience, but I thought I'd mention this procedure in case some of you haven't thought about it: I first scan the organisms on my slide at low power and than I work systematically. While the sample slowly becomes thinner because of the evaporation of the water I start with the thicker organisms and I do the thinner ones later.

Wim

[Ken Ramos]

I have seen these worms before but was at that time too, unsure of their name and they looked much more interesting as a thick organism than a thin and well, rather squashed one. Normally you see them swimming about, covered with tiny cilia and the ones in my area are usually a bright but rusty orange color. Also the surface textures of the worm have some very colorful designs when viewed at high magnifications.

Thanks Wim

[Wim van Egmond]

They are interesting creatures.

And did you compare these pictures with pictures you made of a slide with a lot of water? I think the water has a lot of effect on the image quality. These pictures are very sharp and that is not just because there are no out of focus areas because the flatness.

Wim

[Ken Ramos]

Previous images that I have of these things are archived on a disc somewhere. My filing system leaves very much to be desired. However, in the past I recall having to selectively focus on particular areas of interest, since I do not stack images. Usually I have a bad habit of floating a cover slip on the slide, something that I now normally try not to do anymore and now find a few more "beefier" subjects taking a beating because of it. Aside from those subjects, however, less water I would have to agree is better for the most part, when you go pond critter hunting. I believe Charlie said that, "the closer to the cover slip, the better the image produced," if I am not mistaken, which does seem to be the case and does make sense. So, as for flatness also producing a much sharper image, that too I would agree on, nothing like a nice flat, even, edge to edge, focal plane to set your lens too.

[MacroLuv]

Nice Ken!
Flat or not, it will become after putting between two glass plates.

[beetleman]

Very good photos Ken, I like the way the diatoms show up. I did not even see the eyes until Wim mentioned them (was looking at all the other stuff)

[Ken Ramos]

Thanks Doug and Nikola

Yeah there is a lot of stuff inside that thing. I have some closer shots of the diatoms in the aftermath of the worms demise