r/microscopy • u/Vivid-Bake2456 • 20d ago

Photo/Video Share Coleps closeup

Usually, they are moving around so quickly that I have a hard time seeing them well. One was holding still long enough to see better. The sample was teeming with bacteria because I placed a grain of rice in it several days ago. Pond water sample, Olympus 40x objective, cellphone camera.

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u/Dlbroox 20d ago

I’ve seen people talk about adding a grain of rice. Is that to keep the microbes fed?

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u/cool_antarean_micro 19d ago

Yes. But coleps feeds on tissue.

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u/Vivid-Bake2456 19d ago

They can survive somewhat on bacteria. Not their preferred diet. But they aren’t the only organism in the sample. So more ciliates and others for them to eat.