Microcrustacea and Microinvertebrates - Now Pic Intense!

[Funky_Fish14]

Got into a different lab today with one of my bio profs. I was able to use a new microscope (and slightly more convenient to use, although less powerful than the light microscope) called an inverted microscope. This meant I could mess around with drops of water in, or an entire petri-dish full, yet it still keeps the objective lens close to the specimen. The prof also told me that she thinks we do have a microscope with a screen, but she is not entirely sure about it's availability/location yet, and that we MAY have one with camera adaptability. If you look very closely, (though its really hard to get with the camera), you can spot some colour in the limbs and other parts of the critters, for example orange/blue and some pink/purple specs in the copepods, and some significant orange in the polychaete worm. The red spot in the two pods is a semi-functional 'eye'. (A single eye found in all members of the Subclass Copepoda).

I did get a couple videos of these critters swimming around in their 'drops' of water. I will try to get those on when I get a chance tomorrow.

Anyways, the first specimen is the last one from the previous set of shots but under a stronger scope.