Cyclotella

[Raul G]

Hi Fellows!

This time I am posting an image of what I believe is a specimen of Cyclotella. It came with a sand sample.
Summer has almost started and the increase in diversity from other seasons is amazing.

Best wishes to all!

[rjlittlefield]

Beautiful!

I am not familiar with Cyclotella, but when I search the web, I find pages that say it is pretty small -- diameter 20-30 µm or even much less. This image looks too sharp to be nearly that small.

What is the scale of this image?

--Rik

[Raul G]

Mmm... you are right Rik.
This is a small diatom but not that small, it is taken with a 40x obj and a 8X KPL eyepiece. So it must be around 100 mmm.
Maybe Thalassiosira?

R.

[Jan Kros]

Dear George,

This diatom is called Planktoniella sol

Jan

[rjlittlefield]

Jan,

Welcome aboard and thanks for the ID -- most appreciated and glad to see you posting!

--Rik

(BTW, the photographer here is Raul Gonzalez. I think that Georges-Louis Leclerc is the long-dead author of Raul's signature quote, though I can't find that particular quotation online.)

[rjlittlefield]

A quick Google image search on Planktoniella sol turned up a really nice SEM image also, showing interesting 3D structure.

See here and click on the thumbnail near the bottom, leading to this image.

--Rik

[Raul G]

Thanks for the id Jan. Welcome to the group.

I am glad Buffon is familiar to you Rik, some said he inspired Darwin.
I took this quote from a good book that forms part of a modern tradition for microscopists: "Béchamp or Pasteur?" from Ethel D. Hume.