Barnard Awards 2023 (Videos)
Charles Hussey judged the videomicrographs before they were revealed at the Annual Exhibition of Microscopy on Saturday 14th October 2023, and had the difficult job of deciding which of the videos from members of the Quekett, the Iceni Microscopy Study Group and the Postal Microscopical Society were of a sufficiently high standard to deserve a certificate.
The entries that deserved certificates were announced at the Annual Exhibition, and Charles decided that certificates should be awarded to David Linstead for “Collotheca rotifer and persistent Trichocerca rotifer” and to Ron Lowe for “Collotheca rotifer feeding”.
Quekett members can see all of the videos and the judge’s comments in the Members’ Area.
David Furness: Paramecium ciliary beating and contractile vacuole discharge
Paramecium is a common single celled organism. This one was observed in a drop of a pond sample placed on a slide, with coverslip, using a 1970’s Zeiss phase contrast microscope in bright field mode. The video shows the slipper shape of the animal, with the oral groove and its associated adoral (membrane) zone of cilia beating, as well as body cilia beating. The contractile vacuoles can also be seen discharging. The video was obtained using a Logitech C920 webcam with the lens removed, mounted over the phototube of the microscope and recorded using Logitech software. The objective used was ×25 with a 15× eyepiece.
David Furness: Vorticella from hay infusion
Vorticella, the bell animalcule, was observed in a sample from a hay infusion after about 2-week incubation, in a drop of the infusion medium coverslipped on a slide, using a 1970’s Zeiss phase contrast microscope in bright field mode. The animal gradually extends its bell-shaped body on the stalk which it attaches to a substrate. The central myoneme (contractile filament) inside the stalk is seen. In the body, the macronucleus and contractile vacuole are observed. The adoral cilia can be seen beating in metachronal waves around the oral aperture. The animal has been slowed by the introduction of weak glutaraldehyde fixative under the side of the coverslip. The video was obtained using a Logitech C920 webcam with the lens removed, mounted over the phototube of the microscope and recorded using Logitech software. The objectives used were ×25 followed by ×40 with a 15× eyepiece and selectable 2× projection lens.
David Furness: Vorticella swarmer from pond sample
Vorticella swarmer, the dispersal form of Vorticella, was observed in a drop of pond sample coverslipped on a slide, using using a 1970’s Zeiss phase contrast microscope in bright field mode. The swarmer shows a slow rotational swimming motion with adoral zone membranelles beating in a metachronal wave. The video was obtained using a Logitech C920 webcam with the lens removed, mounted over the phototube of the microscope and recorded using Logitech software. The objective used was ×40 with a 15× eyepiece.
Alan Jones: Ariel display on green ground
HDMI USB camera
Alan Jones: Live bacteria on red ground
×40 objective, HDMI USB camera
Alan Jones: Rotifer on green ground
HDMI USB mounted camera
David Linstead: Collotheca rotifer and persistent Trichocerca rotifer
Taken using a Zeiss Standard 16 microscope with a Reichert ×16 fluorite objective and DIC illumination. Image captured with a Canon EOS M6 Mark II camera afocally coupled through a ×10 eyepiece.
David Linstead: Limnias rotifer
Taken using a Zeiss Standard 16 microscope with a Reichert ×16 fluorite objective and DIC illumination. Image captured with a Canon EOS M6 Mark II camera afocally coupled through a ×10 eyepiece.
David Linstead: Rare suctorian protozoan Caracantherina
Caracantherina is an uncommon loricate suctorian. The lorica is extended to make a stalk-like projection that attaches to the substrate. The tentacles are capitate with haptocysts. The lorica can be up to 450 µm in length.
Taken using a Zeiss Standard 16 microscope with a Reichert ×16 fluorite objective and DIC illumination. Image captured with a Canon EOS M6 Mark II camera afocally coupled through a ×10 eyepiece.
Ron Lowe: Collotheca rotifer feeding
Taken with a Leica DM500 microscope with a ×10 eyepiece and a ×40 objective, direct illumination, GXCAM Hichrome HR4 camera (from GT Vision).