These are images of stichidia on the red algae / seaweed Plocamium cartilagineum - a common seaweed on the UK coastline. In its tetrasporophyte form the seaweed produces male and female tetraspores in these stichidia structures. The tetraspores will grow in to the male and female gametophyte form of the plant which will produce cystocarps on the female and spermatangia on the male. The fertilised carpospores will then grow in to the tetrasporophyte form. I did read that the gametophyte and tetrasporophyte forms look similar and that the seaweed is mostly found in the tetrasporophyte form.
The images are taken with a 10x, and cropped 20x, objective on a full frame camera. The lobes of the stichidia are around 60 microns at their widest.
Dave
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stichidia on the red seaweed Plocamium cartilagineum
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stichidia on the red seaweed Plocamium cartilagineum
Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
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Re: Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
Nice stuff!
Mike
Mike
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Re: Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
Thanks Mike.
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Re: Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
Lovely! It's a long time ago since that name was familiar to me. Haven't seen it for decades.
--- felix filicis ---
Re: Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
Hi
Thank you for the reminder of a field course back in 1971 !!
Did you mount the alga on a slide?
Temporary or permanent mount?
Would like to remember the details from decades ago but memory fails and notes not found.
I do recall, I think, a glycerine mounting medium under cover glass ringed with bicycle tyre rubber glue. May be not. But the temporary mounts were good for a couple of decades at least. Might find them yet !!
Best, John
Thank you for the reminder of a field course back in 1971 !!
Did you mount the alga on a slide?
Temporary or permanent mount?
Would like to remember the details from decades ago but memory fails and notes not found.
I do recall, I think, a glycerine mounting medium under cover glass ringed with bicycle tyre rubber glue. May be not. But the temporary mounts were good for a couple of decades at least. Might find them yet !!
Best, John
Re: Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
Thanks for the comments.
Yes, it’s on a slide in water, under a coverslip and just compressed enough to get some separation, then I seal the edge with nail varnish just to stop the water evaporating too quickly while photographing. I’ve never tried permanent or even semi-permanent mounts - I do have some glycerine so I might have a go.
Dave
Hi John,dolmadis wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 3:00 am
Did you mount the alga on a slide?
Temporary or permanent mount?
Would like to remember the details from decades ago but memory fails and notes not found.
I do recall, I think, a glycerine mounting medium under cover glass ringed with bicycle tyre rubber glue. May be not. But the temporary mounts were good for a couple of decades at least. Might find them yet !!
Best, John
Yes, it’s on a slide in water, under a coverslip and just compressed enough to get some separation, then I seal the edge with nail varnish just to stop the water evaporating too quickly while photographing. I’ve never tried permanent or even semi-permanent mounts - I do have some glycerine so I might have a go.
Dave
Re: Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
Nice work! Beautiful dreamlike life form.
Just out of curiosity, why did you flip the image inbetween, just esthetic preference or what?
Cheers, Karl
Just out of curiosity, why did you flip the image inbetween, just esthetic preference or what?
Cheers, Karl
Re: Plocamium cartilagineum stichidia
Thanks Karl.
If I remember correctly the crop was from the orientation of the original image and seemed to work. I wanted to use the full image in landscape but when I rotated it I wasn’t happy so I flipped it and I thought it looked better - so yes, aesthetic preference.
Dave