Foldscope, Tardigrade and The Himalayas Part 07

Dec 04, 2018 • 6:54 AM UTC

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140x Magnification

Microorganisms

Yashas Devasurmutt

Biotechnologist|Photographer|Tardigrade Hunter|Musician|Gamer My Research Interests are Astrobiology, Nanobiotechnology and Artificial Intelligence.

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Hey folks, here’s a post about my journey in the Himalayas with Foldscope. Follow me on Twitter and Researchgate to know more.
Lets continue…
As I mentioned in my earlier post that we are done with the journey, in the subsequent posts I will be discussing about the methodologies to find them.
NOW!!! how does one find a tardigrade?? (water bear)
1. Tardigrades are usually found in moss or lichens.
2. Collect a clump of moss or lichen (dry or wet) and place in a shallow dish, such as a Petri dish.
3. Soak in water (preferably Distilled water, bottled spring water, bottled mineral water or fresh rain water) for 3-24 hours. Tap water is harmful because the water will be chlorinated.
4. While soaking make sure the samples are completely soaked, remove and discard it after they’re soaked.
5. Use a micropipette or a small dropper to transfer the water to a cavity slide. Use a Foldscope to observe and find a Tardigrade.

Lichen Samples inside a Petri dish

Invert the lichen sample so more of the surface is available for soaking.

Lichen soaked in Distilled water Found these guys in separate samples collected from the Himalayas

Right – Heterotardigrada; Left – Eutardigrada
A few Tardigrades under a single frame. These were all transferred from different samples into a single cavity slide with few drops of water from the dish.

Tardigrada
PS: Tardigrades in general are very hard to find and deal with as they’re microscopic animals. The hydration is very essential otherwise they will remain in their Tun state
Stay tuned for Part 08…
For other Parts, click links
Part 01
Part 02
Part 03
Part 04
Part 05
Part 06
Part 08