Here come my winter buddies. Under ice at shorelines in local ponds these diatoms congregate into long chains along side Tabellaria. At spring thaw they go through one final large growth stage and to the naked eye appear as filamentous algae at the water's bottom. As temperatures warm and they become entangled with rapidly growing Spirogyra, Mougeotia and other early filaments and break apart into smaller groups. They will stay around throughout the year.
Shot with the Oly DP10 at 400x.
Frez (procratinating holiday shopping)
Fragilaria
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There is a sense of order in nature that confounds us. Try to get 50 people to stand in a completely straight line and then co-exist. Being independent creatures, we have no need to, yet these diatoms can also exist independently and choose(?) not to. Two major things center around this decision, if it is one, and they must be food and reproduction. I guess it could also be one long line dance and we can't hear the music.
Frez
Frez