The desmid Euastrum bidentatum

With Scanning Electron Microscope Image

Below

      

This desmid is in a sample from Scotland sent to me recently by Alan Joyce. The genus is Euastrum, 

 the species bidentatum, the variety oculatum.

The photo-micrograph was taken with a digital camera hand held over the microscope eyepiece. This is only sucessful with a digital camera that has at least three times optical zoom. The pixel size has been reduced so that it does not take too long to download, it looses some resolution in the process.

This is a Scanning Electron Microscope image by Andrew Syred of the same species from an earlier sample from the same site, the two deeper indentations that look like eyes give the species its variety name oculatum.  

Updated on March 5th. 2005