Freshwater Arthropods & Crustacean

[Robert Berdan]

I took these photographs using a Canon MPE-65 F2.8 (F8-11) macro lens and canon ring flash. I made a miniature aquarium about 2 cm long and about 5 mm deep. To build the aquarium I clamped 2 glass plates together with a 4 mm thick rubbery sheet material from the hardware store. I used fiber optic lights to help me focus and the ring flash modelling lights.

I used L brackets on the glass so the two plates would stand up vertically. I added a black background behind the aquarium and and also used one of my pictures of a forest scene as a background for the mosquito larvae.

Note in the first image the brave Daphnid facing the much larger Mosquito larvae - maybe she knows the mosquito larva is a filter feeder.



Below Chaoborus phantom midge larva also called a glasswrom they look like fierce preadators but I never saw them feed over several hours even though there were daphnia, stentors, and copepods all around them


Diving Beetel with air bubble - (Dytiscidae)


Diving Beetle - about 2 mm long


Scud or Amphipod - Hyalella azteca - has sharp spines on the posterior cuticular plates (About 3 mm long).

[grgh]

Keep exploring Robert.
Your subjects and presentations are always interesting and well received
on this side of the pond.
Just wish that i lived in Canada.

lovely shots.

[Lou Jost]

Is that amphipod flourescing?

[jmc]

Great images. Love the first one especially.

Out of interest, as you were using flash, how did you prevent the reflection back from the glass?

[Robert Berdan]

Thanks for kind comments. The Amphipod is not fluurescesing that I am aware of - I used a 2.5X lens on my microscope and provided top lighting with a flashlight that had a blue filter, Without the blue filter the speciment appeared more yellow. I am pleasantly suprised how well the low power objectives work on the microscope for some types of macrophotography and providing some top lighting.

The biggest problem with photographing the organisms in the aquarium is of course dirt on the glass shows up, and debris in the water stands out.

Thank you for comments
RB

[Lou Jost]

Robert, that turned out very well.

[MarkSturtevant]

All excellent. It is common to see insects and other arthropods that 'autoflouresce' a bit under flash, returning light blue colors that are not there under natural light.
I wonder if one could make a mini-aquarium like yours out of large sized microscope cover slips and silicone sealant. If glass offers an interference to resolving fine details under hi mag, then maybe using very thin glass like that would reduce it.