Pond life - Video, Biodiversity Shorts.

marcgriffith · Post by **marcgriffith** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:27 pm

Hi everyone,

An introduction to pond life through the microscope - video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPls7CQxOBA

The setup that I show in the video is a later one to that which I took the original shots.
It was the same olympus microscope but rather than with the teleconverter I had unscrewed the top lens of the eyepiece and then mounted the camera on top of that with a tube, very budget but it worked!
I am getting much better results with the new setup, of course it is still evolving and I will have another video using it soon.

I am an amateur so I really hope that I got all the research and pronunciation right. I know there are experts here so please let me know if I have made any blinding mistakes.

There is a clickable fast index in the youtube description:

INDEX
1:52 - Tadpole
3:17 - Paramecium - Ciliate Protozoa
4:06 - Bacteria
4:53 - Amoeba - Protozoa
5:05 - Peranema - Flagellate Protozoa
6:18 - Diatom
6:39 - Spirogyra
7:27 - Filamentous Bacteria
8:15 - Chironomidae, Midge Fly Larvae

Enjoy.

carlos.uruguay · Post by **carlos.uruguay** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:25 pm

Very nice video!!
I'm not sure if this is Paramecium
Probably it is not.
Maybe Glaucoma genre or similar

marcgriffith · Post by **marcgriffith** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 7:56 pm

Gracias Carlos, thanks I will look Glaucoma up.
My Mum suggested Paramecium, although she has not worked as a microbiologist for 36 years.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 7:56 pm

A nice collection. I second Carlos' comment that the ciliate is not a Paramecium. But I'm not sure what it is either. In any case the blobbing-out behavior is lysis leading to death, definitely not reproduction. The reproduction process is much slower (tens of minutes) and proceeds with a gradual elongation and pinching in the middle, eventually ending with two almost identical individuals connected "head to tail" just before separation. See illustrations at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/c ... atalh.html.

--Rik

marcgriffith · Post by **marcgriffith** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:58 pm

Thanks for the link Rik. Not sure if you noticed there is another dead one just above it.

Something to look for and try and film next time, I might even run some of the raw footage by this forum again before I publish.

Its not a huge problem I can just add a youtube annotation. Perhaps its new?

There is a local Biologist, Juan Pablo, who recently discovered a new species of frog further up the same river.
http://ecomingafoundation.wordpress.com ... c-reserve/
He has discovered three or four others in the same valley a few years back.

There are some excellent reserves right here on my doorstep.

arturoag75 · Post by **arturoag75** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:31 am

Very nice vid

Arturo

carlos.uruguay · Post by **carlos.uruguay** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:07 am

marcgriffith wrote:Gracias Carlos, thanks I will look Glaucoma up.
My Mum suggested Paramecium, although she has not worked as a microbiologist for 36 years.

Your video is very good!
Don't get discouraged
Know what organism we are observing is difficult for all of us
Regards
carlos

Bruce Taylor · Post by **Bruce Taylor** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:30 am

Nice!

As for the ciliate at 3:17 (not a Paramecium, as others have pointed out), I suggest identifying it simply as a Tetrahymenid. Glaucoma is very plausible, as Carlos suggests, but I don't think we see enough detail to assign a genus.

The "exploding" ciliate at 4:27 is probably having difficulty with osmoregulation (usually caused by coverslip pressure, heat from the lamp or the wild ride down the barrel of a pipette). It's something you often see when delicate ciliates are transferred to a slide.

marcgriffith · Post by **marcgriffith** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 4:43 pm

carlos.uruguay wrote: Don't get discouraged
Know what organism we are observing is difficult for all of us
Regards
carlos

There will be more, thanks. I will just try and be a little more general.

Thanks Bruce, some good information here.

vasselle · Post by **vasselle** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 10:33 pm

Hello
Very nice vidéo

RogelioMoreno · Post by **RogelioMoreno** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 7:04 am

Good video, thank you for sharing!

Rogelio

_Michal_ · Post by **_Michal_** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 4:55 am

Very nice and interesting video!

Jacek · Post by **Jacek** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 1:29 pm

marcgriffith · Post by **marcgriffith** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 2:42 pm

Thanks everyone for the nice feedback. This forum has a great bunch of people on it. I was gobsmacked when I first saw some of the images here and that got me into this.
I've just finished modding my microscope to use an LED and teleconverter rather than the half an eyepiece in front of the camera. Quality is much improved.
Birds are up next, but expect more microscope work in the future.

cheers, Marc.