Water Mite

hkv · Post by **hkv** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:46 am

I found a tiny (what I believe to be) Water Mite in a sample. It was redish/brown. The size was just bigger than a large copepod, so I managed to get most of it with 4X objective. It is a water mount with a thick layer of water and a coverglass resting on small blobs of bees wax. I tried all possible illumination techniques and they were all terrible. Halos, glare, over exposure, so I did not get a single stack with a decent result except for fluorescence. These are shot with EPI-fluo at around 400nm. Then stacked (some contains over 100 exposures). The 1024 pixel size limit is hiding many details in these. They look better in 2048 or higher. For more resolution and detail, please see the flickr version of the image by clicking on them.

4X UplanSAPO:

Water Mite - Full Body by , on Flickr

10X UplanSAPO:

Water Mite - Body by , on Flickr

10X UplanSAPO:

Water Mite - Head by , on Flickr

10X UplanSAPO:

Water Mite - Tail by , on Flickr

WalterD · Post by **WalterD** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:15 am

Fantastic, really impressive!!
I can imagine that epi illumination for an object covered with water and glass can be problematic as well, these pictures proof that this is an excellent solution. Looks promising for other water-organisms.

Harald · Post by **Harald** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 6:23 am

Hi there hkv,
This is just great, amazing images. Love the details and light.
Thank you for sharing this great work.
Really inspiring

micro_pix · Post by **micro_pix** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 7:30 am

Outstanding! Great technique.

David

CEN · Post by **CEN** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:28 am

Super!

Olympusman · Post by **Olympusman** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 1:13 pm

Mitey nice mites! (Sorry - couldn't help myself.)

Mike

grgh · Post by **grgh** » Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:35 pm

Really impressive. lovely detail and colours.

on the last photo could those be eggs, between the legs? or should that be, on the legs?

hkv · Post by **hkv** » Sun Oct 22, 2017 4:08 am

Thank you all for your comments!

grgh wrote:Really impressive. lovely detail and colours.

on the last photo could those be eggs, between the legs? or should that be, on the legs?

I don't know, I first thought these were algae, but now you got me thinking. Eggs make sense. Since the image is done through autofluorescence, algae should shine in red/orange. These have the same color as the hair on the legs and must be made of different materia than algae/chlorophyll. The small pink "ball" close to the body must be some type of algae I assume. Eudorina or Pandorina perhaps. It should probably be more red/orange, but the white balance may be slightly off.

vasselle · Post by **vasselle** » Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:33 am

Bonjour
Superbes images
Cordialement seb

zzffnn · Post by **zzffnn** » Mon Oct 23, 2017 1:29 pm

Very nice and interesting images!

Those green balls are indeed very interesting. I don't know if mites carry eggs that way. They seem small for mite eggs?

Keywords mites / eggs / leg were mentioned in this article:
http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/mites ... oding.html

actinophrys · Post by **actinophrys** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 12:52 pm

The little clusters look like the right shape and scale for epizoic protozoans, say something like Rhabdostyla or related colonies, though I do not know what would make them show as green.

hkv · Post by **hkv** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 12:59 pm

actinophrys wrote:The little clusters look like the right shape and scale for epizoic protozoans, say something like Rhabdostyla or related colonies, though I do not know what would make them show as green.

The green color is due to the fact that they autofluoresce in greenish under the ultraviolet light I used for illumination. They may have a different color under visible light.

What is so strange is that they seem to grow in two perfect clusters located at the same spot on both legs. Just as they are supposed to be there (by evolution).

zzffnn · Post by **zzffnn** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:50 pm

That perfect cluster structure may be produced by clonal expansion? Some simple organisms do that.

actinophrys · Post by **actinophrys** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:16 pm

hkv wrote:The green color is due to the fact that they autofluoresce in greenish under the ultraviolet light I used for illumination.

Fair enough; I mean I'm not sure if that is typical of anything. Algae for instance fluoresce red on account of chlorophyll, Stentor coeruleus pink on account of defensive pigments, and so on. I could find mention that at least some other ciliates give green but don't know why or how widespread it might be, so can't say if it is evidence for or against any possibility.

hkv wrote:What is so strange is that they seem to grow in two perfect clusters located at the same spot on both legs. Just as they are supposed to be there (by evolution).

The near-symmetry between them is strange. Besides some sort of evolutionary purpose, though, I imagine it could be that this one spot on the legs chances to be a good place to grow – if for instance it might be easier to settle in or a harder spot to clean, so that only a few single cells have managed elsewhere.

The clusters themselves are not so out of place among ciliates. Many peritrichs grow in stalked colonies; these are usually tree-like, but sometimes more compact, and a few like Apocarchesium even grow in balls on the end of a single stalk. Others settle in clusters, and I've seen a copepod with a definite sphere though all apparently attached separately (here, if it may be put next to such superior images). I don't know what kind they were, or which your image might show, but like I said I think the shape is very much in keeping with the group.

Marek Mis · Post by **Marek Mis** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 12:03 am

Excellent images !

Marek