Plankton - Science topic

I am not an expert on marine diatoms, but if it is one, it looks similar to Palmeria sp. I hope I do not lead you astray with my guess.

The same micropipette technique can be done for phytoplankton. Heat glass capillary tubes to draw them out to a very fine diameter. This makes selecting small phytoplankton easier.

Kalaiyarasan Thiyagarajan Thanks! I shall try out the suggestions

Le facteur de bioaccumulation donnerait plus de renseignement sur le transfert du métal entre l'eau le zooplancton.

thanks a lot,

any suggestions for lysing kitt? or an optimized protocol?

Thank you for your response Ofir.

Fortunately, I got a working protocol after repeated modification of the initial protocol.

The result looks good too. I am using the Nova PX software to analysis my images too. If you have any further recommendation, kindly share.

Thanks again

Cocconeis is known to occur in both freshwater and marine habitats, so it is very important to ID it to the species level to understand, or begin describing the ecology of that taxon. I recommend digesting and mounting specimens in Naphrax. If you are not familiar with that process, it is possible to outsource it to other labs such as the one where I work. You need clean specimens mounted in a medium with a high RI to resolve key distinguishing features. This genus is not really planktonic, but could be considered tychoplanktonic. They are really benthic taxa that often have a preference for a specific substrate, and can even have unique interspecific relationships with other algae i.e Cocconeis pediculus & Cladophora. Your species likely has a preference for a particular substrate, and if it does not, that is a perfectly valid and publishable conclusion. You may be capturing specimens attached to sand grains in that are suspended in the water column, resulting in an abundance of benthic taxa in planktonic samples. As mentioned by Arne Andersen, they are excellent food for zooplankton and benthic invertebrates. They are also important in nutrient and carbon cycling. If you really had a mind to you could estimate their biomass, estimate metabolic rate and make an educated statement regarding the amount of carbon fixed by that species in that habitat over the course of a year. One last thing, algae doesn't smell like fish, fish smell like algae. The importance of these organisms in the environment really cannot be overstated.

After segregating through separate mesh sized nets, staining methods can distinguish between both types of phytoplankton

Yes, persisters can be both seen in biofilm as well as planktonic cells and are resistant to the action of antibiotics

I think it is definitely a Keratella, probably Keratella cochlearis. Look up rotifers of the Great Lakes for a good description.

Tintinnid

gastrotricha

The magnification is too low to give a positive identification. Judging from the size and coulour I think it could be Tetraedron minimum or Chlorotetraedron incus. I do not think it is P. kamillae, because the colour does not match the one of Xanthophyceae, also the shape is slightly different, P. kamillae is more 'rounded'.

I think it is monactinus simplex

Try this!

Thank you All for your suggestions.

As you have access to a fluorescent microscope and FACS, analysis should be quite straightforward.

To test the method, use labelled secondaries off the shelf. Talk to your FACS specialists. If you have large quantities (5mg+) of your antibody, direct labelling with a fluorescent dye is a good way to go, as it will save you some clean-up work.

Dear Dr. Husham N Noori ,

I suggest you to have a look at the following, interesting document:

-A Methods Manual for the Collection, Preparation and Analysis of Diatom Samples V. 1.0

by JC Taylor, WR Harding & CGM Archibald (2007)

Available at: https://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/1770054839.pdf

Good luck and my best regards, Pierluigi Traverso.

Read this :

Images 1 and 2 are cross sections of benthic foraminifera the axial section is attached and they are not planktonic

Dear Mega,

I'm quite sure this won't work. As far as my experience goes you will not archive satisfactory fixation for ultrastructural analysis with lugol solution. You need proper cross linking fixation with glutaraldehyde or a mixture of formaldehyde and glutaraledhyde, followed by secondary fixation with osmiumtetroxide. I haven't got any experience with plankton, so I can't give you a detailled protocol, but I'm sure you'll find some in literature. When you work with marine organisms it might be a challenge to find a good buffer system for the fixative, depending on how sensitive you specimen are to osmotic changes. Often ist best to use a buffer based on sea salt solutions or the cultivation media (if used).

Hi Muhammad,

could you be a little bit more specific? What exactly would you like to sample? Makro, micro or nano plankton? In your case I would check the literature and see what other researchers did for specific sampling types. For example, here is an article comparing two different types of plankton sampling nets. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022098115000994

If you can access to it I can highly recommend this book which explains in great detail all variations of plankton sampling in Chapter 4 "Sampling methods for plankton":

Good luck with your future work

Kindly check this paper.

Younes Boundir thank, but I can't read French

Shannon-Wiener Index (H) may be calculated by the following formula:

H=∑[(pi)xln(pi)]

Where −

· pi = proportion of total sample represented by species i.

· Divide no. of individuals of species i by total number of samples.

10.1002/stem.544

Hello dear colleagues. I am to totally in agreement with @james des lauriers recommending a good solution. This is the same happened to me when I started my master thesis in 2010 and my supervisor requested me to focus on faunistic study of Class Collembola from phylum Arthropoda. I was totally unfamiliar with this group, but gradually with patience, collecting literature and working hours on mounted specimens and consulting with experts around the world, I could successfully write my master thesis and also continue the same research direction in my PhD thesis. Another challenge I have got into was in 2019 about determination of earthworms collected from tea gardens related to my current project. First, I got literatures to know the morphology, then know the experts in my country and in the world then ask them or I searched myself the keys. The last not the least, with patience identify your specimen, then contact with an active expert and consult with her or him and organize everything in your mind. Thank you.

Of all the ones I've used before (Leica, Zeiss, and Olympus), the Olympus CX31 has never failed me in terms of getting good quality images of marine invertebrate larvae, copepods and even ciliates. As far as I know the CX31 has been discontinued and they've rolled out a new model: CX43/CX33 - which is of course more expensive than the last. For pictures the CX31 is modular which allows for a camera attachment. Leica is the go too if you have the funds, they have amazing imaging software that allows you to create composite images from different views of the specimen.

Hope that helps!

Karla Mihić Youre welcome and all the best in your research!

Also check https://blog.v-hr.com/blog/how-autonomous-cleaning-drones-could-save-the-ocean?hs_amp=true

Dear Florian,

You can find the research lab facility at General Motors, Nuclear Energy Research, Defense Lab, Santa Barbera, USA. Planter sampler can be equipped with a control door which can be opened and closed, a pressure indicator and photometer capable of measuring intensity and spectral light.

Reference:

Fundamental Nuclear Energy Research: A Special Report of the United States , By U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Division of Plans and Reports

Ashish

Probably It is a diatom from the family Naviculaceae.

The temperature data can be downloaded from MarksimGCM at daily scale and satellite images of fine resolution can be used salinity and plankton.

Nicolai S Panikov Thank for your detailed explanation. I'll check the variables suggested by you.

Please take a look at this useful RG link.

Hi Basavaraj,

I give you a simple example to substitute the values ;

Eg.,

I collected 100 ml water sample and concentrated to 1 ml.

The concentrated sample (1 ml) added to the counting chamber (1 ml holding capacity) and as total I found 500 cells in it.

I should represent them in numbers per Litre.

Cells counted = 500

Slide/counting chamber volume = 1 ml

Concentration factor = 100 (100 ml concentrated to 1 ml)

So,

# of cells/L = (Cells counted/Slide volume) x (1/Concentration factor) x (1000/L)

=(500/1)*(1/100)*(1000/L)

=500*0.01*1000/L

=5000/L

I hope you are getting it.

https://www.maine.gov/dmr/shellfish-sanitation-management/programs/phytovolunteers/index.html

Best

1. compare the morphology of your specimen with referenced photos for plankton until reach to the closest photo to your samples ( must there websites or books relate to this topic).

2. DNA isolation and make a sequencing

3. analysis by using bioinformatic software to make alignment with other plankton sp. to determine the similarity as well as build the phylogentic tree to decide the type of your sample

4. you can record it as a patent if you use it in application for first time

5. you can use NCBI to create the accession number

note: i think you may search in PubMed (Database) about Plankton to get information about all plankton discovered.

:) Mohammed Anas Chowdhury

Many thanks Mr. Mitra and Macedo!

Hello, depends which biofilm you have, biofilm can be single or mixed-strain biofilms. depends from it you can have specific marker, an antibody or GFP-tagged gene for exact bacterial strain from which biofilm formed.

The DNA staining with DAPI which preferable stains dsDNA can be considered a good marker too.

Cell numbers in the biofilms can be determined non-invasively by collecting the total fluorescent density in an image, then dividing by the average fluorescent density of a single cell determined earlier in an experiment.

Good luck!

For plankton biodiversity analysis, Shannon -Weaver index is the most popular index. You can measure it by using software like: R Srtatistix, Past etc.

Like you, I already identified plankton at genus level also find difficulties to do some statistical analysis. You can get technical help about using software from seniors or supervisor.

Hi Mohammed Anas Chowdhury , Based on by observation most of the sample are detritus materials, you should try centrifugation as a method to isolate plankton samples take 10 ml of your sample then centrifuge it, decant the supernatant and at least leave 1 ml of sample.

For the identification, #10 is somehow a calanoid sa mention by but you should dissect it to know what the genus and species. For #20, i do not not believe its a diatom its probably a shadow of the lens as you can see there is a detritus material in the middle. Probably im mistaken but a coscinodiscus has costae, spines, rimoportulae, fultoportulae which is not visible in LM.

I would suggest that you should try identifying the plankton samples upto species level its a good training and if your going to publish it. Read books on plankton taxonomy and you also try to draw for phytoplankton and zooplankton. There are taxonomy books that are free online. I know it will be hard at first but practice makes perfect. I know im no expert im just here to help but with proper practice you can identify plankton samples.

Thank you, yes the filter clogging up is a concern, however we want to avoid picking out larvae individually.

web resources.

..https://b-ok.cc/dl/668284/dca641

To achieve good quality and natural color, I take photos of anesthetized aquatic animals using MS-222 or magnesium chloride, depending on the salinity of the water.

Manuele Martinelli - excellent response. Thank you so much for taking the time to put your expertise into words for me! :)

There is only one way, the one always used: You must dissect the different parts like antennules, antennae, mouthparts (if required), and legs, after clearing the specimen with lactic acid or glycerin (not always required. Attention with glycerin, is very dehydrating and tends to shrink the specimens). You stain with methyl blue, and mount temporarily each part in a slide (just a drop of glycerin and a coverlid) and take a picture. You can also mount them permanently after de-hydrating and mounting in Canada balsam or similar and a coverlid.

Another method that allows tak ing of the whole specimen and concentrate in any detail is by using a scanning electron microscope, this gives wonderful results.

The species composition of the plankton community is very variable in the same place throughout the year. Therefore, based on the species composition it is difficult or impossible to draw a correct conclusion about the stability of the ecosystem. Moreover, the variability of species composition of individual communities is aimed at ensuring the functional stability of the ecosystem. The functional stability of the ecosystem is determined by the ratio of the processes of creation and destruction of living matter, primary photosynthetic production and destruction of organic matter, the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

If you have SBE 32. It is possible to take enough sample in the same depth.

All best

Hello Kevin. My team compared the biofilms on different brands of 96-wellplates (TC-treated, non-TC-treated), and found that some non-TC-treated plates (super cheap) had the lowest biofilm of the same bacteria. We then concluded that non-biofilm experiments can be used on certain non-TC-treated plates, while biofilm experiments should be used on TC-treated plates.

following

Hi Praulai,

The relationships between ocean currents, pelagic fish and plankton are complex. I hope that the attached papers will be useful.

Tomas

Hello, biochemical studies carried out on the chemical composition of some of the major constituents of zooplankton biomass show a very high percentage of protein when compared to other organic contents present in the body of such animals. In fact plankton are highly nutritious and the liquids of the cell contents of these tiny organisms contain

less salt than sea water. Most of these animals are edible and some palatable but are rarely eaten by man directly.

Some peoples have tasted plankton either dried to a biscuit or boiled.

But we shuld think about ecological balance in food chain before starting eat.

Also source of nutrients can be microorganisms which contain not less nutrients than plankton.

Think also about this topic.

If you compare time which need organism for dubling his weight In intensive growing period, you really can understand which nutrient is our future.

Cow about 1 year

Pig - about 6 month

Chicken about 1 month

All animals not less than 1month

Microorganisms - only 20 min.

And how many 20min contain 1month!

Hope this info will help you.

Good luck!

good question

Dear Legesse,

If you can sufficiently dilute your cell - phage sample, it should be possible to see colony growth on plates and capture both total resistant and sensitive cell numbers. If you are really worried, it might be possible to filter cell - phage mixtures and retain and plate the cells.

Regards, Andrew

I have been using the following keys:

1. Light, S. F. (2007). The Light and Smith manual: intertidal invertebrates from central California to Oregon, University of California Press, Berkely, CA, USA.

2. Kozloff, E. N. and L. H. Price (1987). Marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, University of Washington Press.

3. Soule, D. F., J. D. Soule and H. W. Chaney (1995). "Taxonomic atlas of the benthic fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and western Santa Barbara Channel."

Hope this helps

Travis

Hello, Prorocentrums is fed autotrophic or if there are enough organic substances and a mixotrophic. Depends on the amount of organic matter in your expirement.

Yes, we should, but not all proteins have to come from fish! We need to think about other aquaculture models/practices, such as Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA).

I started to write a column in International Aquafeed. Below are the links to the first three columns:

The next column should be on IMTA.

Happy reading and all the best,

Thierry Chopin

ah, great , thanks Varsha , I might try max quant as you suggested and then see how the results look .

Dear, have look at attached pdf

Amr:

Have a look at these links for insights:

Best

Syed

Clara;

Your specimen is a dipteran larva. It looks very much like Ephydra, a genus of shoreflies/brine flies (Ephydridae). If you have access to the old (and somewhat out of date) "Aquatic Insects of California", check out the illustraion on p, 472. There are other families of aquatic larvae that somewhat resemble your photo- Empididae & Syrphidae. However, from what I can see, shoreflies are your best match.

Thanks Dr Oum Kalthoum

Hello Mr. Brian Cady,

It is a very thought provoking question and I think it deserves to be answered in multiple stages.

Firstly, present day phytoplankton are not dominated by chlorophycean members instead, the most ubiquitous and dominant ones belong to Bacillariophyceae and are characterized by their brown/golden masking pigments.

Secondly, the colour green appears in plants and algae not because of the so-called colour of chlorophyll pigments associated with their chromoproteins, as they have no colour of their own. The ability of various chlorophyll pigments to reflect the green part of the visible portion of the electromagnetic wavelength, by absorbing the other spectra (based on the molecular arrangement of the radical groups), that imparts specific hues to the organisms harbouring them. The absorption spectra associated with the ambient media composition and incident light intensity also play crucial parts in the final colour observed in aquatic media.

Thirdly, a green tinted sky due to the prevalence of H₂S in the atmosphere would have meant nothing since the chlorophyll bearing organisms which ultimately phagocytotically and then endosymbiotically became incorporated and integrated within the ancestral bacteria like single celled organisms were within the aquatic realm and light attenuation within a few millimeter of the surface of the water ensures that the protophotoautotrophs never quite got accustomed to the atmospheric tint.

Fourthly, land plants evolved not before the Ordovician/Silurian periods as known to date and by that time the sky adorned a different sunset yellow tint. Hence land plant were not accustomed to anything green even to reflect that certain spectra for their own camouflage, if they ever needed one since there were nothing on land to munch on them.

Fifth point is in tune to your own question - every photosynthetic organism we see today has been here for at least the entire time period since the KT event and the sky has had predominantly been blue and we don't see any blue autotrophs, do we?

Thank you for an interesting question. I sincerely hope that my answer satisfied your query.

Regards,

Dr. Abhishek Mukherjee

I should rephrase my question to which phytoplankton species do well in the presence of extra potassium, and are there any links between these and radiation recently? Then, are there any links between irradiated marine plankton and the extra carbonate?

So could we connect the extra carbonate to irradiated marine species that thrive on it and potassium? If so, how are these species doing recently?

Result:

Hydromyles globulosus (Pteropoda)

Regarding the half-life, freezing radioactive materials does not have any effect on its half-life.

for the retention of isotopes in samples, freezing is a recommended preservation method for storage time beyond a week.

please refer the attachment. Hope it helps.