I was in San Diego a bit ago and found a few bean clams (Donax gouldii) on the beach, each with a fringe of the colonial hydroid Clytia bakeri growing on them. Naturally I wanted to see how they looked under the scope...I manged to bring a few strands home in a cup of iced seawater (the looks I got from the TSA...). They lived for several weeks in a petri dish of sea water. They are fun to watch, and as a bonus, they are naturally birefringent (see last picture). Note the rows of stinging cells on the tentacles.
Optical conditions:
Dark Field using a 10X / 0.45 NA Nikon CFN Planapo objective with a darkfield stop on a Leitz 402a condenser
Oblique using an Olympus DPlanApo 40X / 0.85 NA objective
Both with a 10X Periplan GW HP eyepiece used as a relay lens to a Kodak DX4350 5 Mpxl camera. Standard 12V Halogen lamp with Kohler for all shots. Polarized picture was taken between crossed polarizers with a red first order waveplate. Images histogram corrected and background normalized using imageJ. Next the medusa forms.
--David
clytia bakeri polyps
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- discomorphella
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Wow these are some nice shots! I need to get over here more often. Great work David!
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Kenneth Ramos
Rutherfordton, North Carolina
Kens Microscopy
Reposts of my images within the galleries are welcome, as are constructive critical critiques.
Kenneth Ramos
Rutherfordton, North Carolina
Kens Microscopy
Reposts of my images within the galleries are welcome, as are constructive critical critiques.