Microscope pics - please share

[KoiRun]

Would members with a microscope please share images (pictures or videos), they have personally taken (or taken by a friend, cousin etc.) of anything pond-related (or not even) using their (or someone else's) microscope and camera (or phone). I don't care if you can identify it or not, neat or ugly. But I think it would all be really neat. Thanks in advance.

[cindy]

I keep this thread in my signature for quick reference. https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...nd-Information

[Rob Forbis]

A couple of images:

Brown is dark orange using a hand held Celestron (note the melanophores)

H&E of wild type skin and scales using Unico M100 and 3MP digital eyepiece (staining done by lab). Note that the epidermis wraps the scale.

[KoiRun]

A couple of images:

Brown is dark orange using a hand held Celestron (note the melanophores)

H&E of wild type skin and scales using Unico M100 and 3MP digital eyepiece (staining done by lab). Note that the epidermis wraps the scale.

Wow nice image. I couldn't make out head or tails of it at first, then it started making sense. The epidermis is the mucus membrane correct? And it's right on top of the scale. About how many cells thick?

I found this neat abstract about epidermis in carp (note the stressors):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18627825
http://www.vetmed.vt.edu/research/aquatic/rodlet/

On melanophores:
https://labs.cellbio.duke.edu/kinesin/Melanophore.html

[Rob Forbis]

There is a lot to see in this H&E section of koi skin and scale, this section is a vertical slice straight down through the skin and scale. In H&E staining the H stains acids blue (like the DNA of cell nuclei) and E stains bases red (like the collagen of the Scales stain dark red). The epidermis is the outside skin and stains more blue (at this magnification it looks kind of purple). The reason I said to note the wrap around is that most koi literature doesn’t get to this level of detail or just gets it wrong (so this image is instructive).

Here is another image that shows a scale tip wrapped by the epidermis. The epidermis dominates this image and the epidermis itself shows its three layers. An outer single cell layer of flat (squamous) cells, a middle layer with mostly undifferentiated cells (but there are alarm cells and mucous cells included) and a basement layer of columnar cells. You can see the mucous cells in action. The second major skin layer is the dermis, it also wraps the scale if you look closely (also never noted in koi literature). The dermal layer is better shown in the slide in the first post, but here you can see a melanophore plainly in the lower portion right below the epidermis (but never in the epidermis).

These slides are sections from the same fish as the three scale picture. The more you look the more you will see.

[KoiRun]

Wow I feel like a kid again. I'll never look at my koi the same way again.
These pictures provided certainly are a privilege.

[NYkoiman]

Sid,

As per your request, below are links to my presumed to be Chillodinella videos from last winter when " I lost half my fleet". Hope you never have the opportunity to observe these nasty little critters in action first hand!!

Enjoy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egpA3zKALuE
https://youtu.be/9L9ODiOvZAY
https://youtu.be/VuE6VjMEGnY

[KoiRun]

I vacuumed this from the bottom of my canister filter.
Yes I finally got a micrsoscope



Centropyxis aculeata, a testa (shelled) amoeba
Nikon Microscope 400x, taken difficulty using iphone, then cropped.

[KoiRun]

Found on a friend's already dead koi.

[Rob Forbis]

KoiRun, looks like you’ve caught the bug (literally and figuratively).

Here is another image from my H&E sections of wildtype. The trichodina parasite is captured very well and it is easy to see why it can be very irritating slipping between the scales. In this image the wrapping of the epidermis is very well demonstrated. I repeat this observation since it is not to be found in koi literature (fish benders beware).

In the covering of the upper scale there are club cells: the 5 or 6 white blobs with bright red (eosinophilic) centers. These club cells contain the so-called Schreckstoff, the alarm substances. By contrast few mucus cells are present on this upper surface but many are present in the epidermis between the scales (but here there are no club cells).

In this image just below the epidermis, immediately below the basement membrane (narrow red band) are melanophores, they seem associated with the large empty cells above and below them. Some of these are likely to be other chromatophores but in classic H&E preparation the successive concentrations of alcohol used in the technique washes the carteniod pigments and guanine crystals.

[KoiRun]

I've caught another one: Skin fluke.
It's very difficulty to videograph with an iphone through the lens. Other youtubers make it look easy. I'm looking for ways to make it easy.

[Rob Forbis]

Koirun: Not a bad video given the constraints. Celestron makes a great hand held digital microscope for about $100. Much the same price for a digital eyepiece for a microscope.

You won’t get much here in the way of response to your efforts though, there has never been much interest by the kichi in science stuff.

As a side note I was recently around a gathering of the kichi, listening to conversations over koi tanks and dinner plates. I can tell you that almost without exception koi people are a bunch of idiots, especially me, Rob

[richtoybox]

I can see the fluke. I have never tried to use a phone camera for my microscope, as I have a dedicated USB camera that is designed for use with microscopes. I have seen some others use the phone camera, but I don't know what they did to get pictures. I have enough problems with getting an eyeball centered using these cheaters that old people have to wear.

[kevin32]

I need to get a microscope tomorrow. kick myself for putting it off

[KoiRun]

Something neat I caught: a Rotifer

'Loving all the creatures in my pond.
Higher life forms ... protozoans, rotifers, nematodes etc. secrete sticky sugars and starches help nitrifying bacteria stick to surfaces.
They are very sensitive and will die due to low oxygen levels and presence of toxins, so their presence in filters is reassuring for water quality.
Also a sign of a mature pond.
I missed funny looking creature... looks like a crab...oh well next time.

[KoiRun]

More pics. Taken from a friend's microscope at 1200x (using my iphone through the lens). Noticing my hesitation, I remember him saying "don't worry these things are not going jump out at you." (I'm a germaphobe )
#1 Streptococcus pneumo., gram positive coccus in chains
#2 Yeast Budding, gram positive
#3 E.coli, gram negative baccilus (gram negative stains pink)
#4 Staphylococcus aureus, gram positive cocci in clusters

[*Ci*]

I know these are not pond related but interesting shots I took of my long hair.

The first two are what look like white dots to our eyes, along the shaft of hair.
The third is what a split end looks like.
The fourth is a bit of a damaged cuticle on older portions of the hair and the last is a healthier cuticle on younger hair.

[kdh]

Here are some fresh water amoebas after adding salt. 1x238900

[OCkoiFan]

[KoiRun]

Here are some fresh water amoebas after adding salt. 1x238900

lol