Algal dwellers

May 31, 2018 • 4:00 PM UTC

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140x Magnification

Microorganisms

Cristina

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This is an overview of the site where I had the chance to sample some months ago. I learned how to manage doing so by reading this post:
Growing diatoms
Biodiversity has proven to be mindblowing! Ecosystems harboring several ecosystems….. Such an intricate net! This is only a humble exemplification. Should I slightly reflect reality, sampling would be more than endless!
Today’s subject are diatoms . Some live on algae that grow on the seashore rocks. Some kind of a Christmas tree..!😀

Here is a closer look:

Another diatom, observed under a foldscope high-mag lens:

I must say I have gone through this document (http://mdc.ulpgc.es/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/MDC/id/156053/rv/singleitem) for several times but cannot find the right genus of these species.
Interaction in unicellular organisms is amazing ! Some of these diatoms can live either attached to macroscopic algae (benthonic) or freely on their own (planktonic) during their life. Why, when and how do they “make up those decisions”?
Next one must be Climacosphenia moniligera. Septae running along its frustules make it easy to recognize.

Using a foldscope can let us move small structures or microorganisms in order to spin them and watch them from all angles: valve and girdle view in this case.