Water flea

[Charles Krebs]

Since I made up a new "pool" slide for the midge larva picture just posted, I thought I'd take a few more images of this common subject.

I placed a daphnia into the water and followed it around for awhile, with the hope of it standing still long enough to get a couple image stacks. The upper image is from a stack of 11 images. The lower image is from a 7 image stack. The lower one is a perspective I have not photographed too often. It is resting at the waters surface, "face" down. So the image is looking trough the back of the water flea. You can see that it is full of young daphnia, and the heart is clearly visible (the rounded structure at the base of the "V" formed by the arms). Both images taken with a 4X objective and darkfield illumination.

[rjlittlefield]

You know, I've never thought of a water flea as having surface texture and pigment patterns. That first picture gives a whole new impression of the beasts!

I'm afraid that it's going to be a tossup beween Bernhard and me, about who is left longer with mouth hanging open. These shots are exquisite.

--Rik

[bernhardinho]

You said it, Rik. In fact I shall refrain from looking at Charles pics from now on , cause I'm running a risk of drying out and dying from thirst already


As far as the shells of crustaceans are concernd, see my reply here:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... ght=#12401


An open mouthed...eh minded bye bye

Bernhard

[Charles Krebs]

Thanks Rik and Bernhard...

There are so many "microscopic" water creatures where the surface is interesting and detailed, but because of the depth-of-field characteristics of the microscope this texture is often not pictured unless it is specifically sought after. And then, that view will often not allow the viewer to get a sense of the "overall" organism because the bulk of the shot is so out of focus. This is an area where "stacking" can really help to provide a more informative "pictorial" view of the subject.

... I edited this response to add the first image in the stack for the top picture. This should illustrate the point I wanted to make...

[rjlittlefield]

As far as the shells of crustaceans are concernd, see my reply here:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?p=12401

Bernhard, thanks for reminding me of those photos & explanations. I recall now being intrigued by the textures in your excellent photos. But in those photos, the shell still struck me as being transparent and colorless, the same as I recall seeing through my own scope and in other published photos.

In this post of Charlie's, the shell seems to have at least some white pigment patterns, possibly some brown also, though I am not sure whether the brown is in the shell or is innards showing through.

Does anyone know if this is just a matter of lighting, or was this last flea of Charlie's different from most?

--Rik

[Wim van Egmond]

Waterfleas are one of the most impressive subjects! Great pictures.

Interesting observations about the carapace and those patterns differ between types of waterfleas, interesting to see more about that. About those spots. It is almost like the shell has a layer thin plates of which some have detached. Just guessing.

Wim