Spiraling Cyanobacteria - Observation of the Week, 9/24/24

Our Observation of the Week is this Limnospira cyanobacteria, seen in Thailand by @algaholic!

No, that’s not an old telephone handset cord, it’s the tiny tiny filament of a  Limnospira cyanobacteria! iNatter algaholic has been posting their amazing microscopy images to Instagram and other social media platforms for quite some time and people suggested that they join iNat as well - and we’re glad they did!

Joining last November, this is the second of their observations to be chosen as Observation of the Day (see the previous one), and they tell me 

Whenever I pass through a park or lake or other sources, I like to collect samples for observations (if it's not dangerous for sampling.). This August I found algal blooming at a park in Bangkok Thailand and it was a kind of blooming Limnospira sp.

Cyanobacteria are commonly known as “blue-green algae” but they are not algae all. Rather, they are photosynthetic bacteria and are thought to be the first organisms to have produced oxygen. They often aggregate into quite a few different forms. 

I reached out to identifier extraordinaire @roman_romanov about this find, and tells me that what’s pictured here is a “filament consisting of numerous cells,” part of the trichome of the cyanobacteria. 

Spiral trichomes without difference in cells and without mucilage around trichomes indicate Limnospira. This trichome consists of short cells. The transverse cell walls are recognizable. Species of Limnospira are delineated with size of cells, proportions between cell length and width, traits of coiling, shape of trichomes (narrowing to the ends or cylindrical), shape of end cells, presence or absence of aerotopes in cells. Some of them are not well described and their identification is tricky.

algaholic will continue to find and photograph the amazing tiny mico algae and posting them to iNat and elsewhere. They enjoy looking at algae posted here from other parts of the world, as well as adding identifications to those observations where they can.

- check out algaholic’s YouTube page!

- we profiled @roman_romanov a while ago, take a look!

- there are nearly 30k cyanobacteria observations on iNat, you can find them here!

Posted on September 24, 2024 11:41 PM by tiwane