Easy observation and filming of plankton

When investigating water samples within the framework of hydrobiology, it is very easy to observe and film plankton with the Motic AE31E inverted microscope and the Moticam 1080 camera. The plankton containing water sample is stored in a culture dish, the bottom of which is formed by a calibrated cover glass. The dish is simply placed on the microscope stage. The Moticam 1080 is connected to a monitor. As soon as an interesting organism appears on the monitor screen, it only needs a simple mouse click to record the image.

On the video fragment, Micrasterias crux melitensis var. melitensis has been captured after it just appeared on the screen during a demonstration about hydrobiology at the Royal Society For Micrography at Antwerp, Belgium. It is an unicellular algae, of the order Desmidiales, which generally can be found in moorland pools, bogs, peat pits, ditches and ponds.