Plankton (Chaetoceros) under the Microscope

Chaetoceros sp. is one of the largest genus of marine planktonic diatoms with approximately 400 species. Chaetoceros is a centric diatom with very lightly silicified frustules. Each frustule posseses four long, thin spines (setae). Setae link the frustules together to form colonies of several cells.

The images below of Chaetoceros sp. were collected at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, Washington, USA by Ashleigh Pilkerton and Lilianna Wolf for the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (2015 Citizen Science Program).

The images below were captured using the DCM3.1 microscope camera (3.2 megapixels) and a Zeiss Phase Contrast microscope.

Brightfield image Chaetoceros sp. captured under the microscope.

Darkfield image of Chaetoceros sp. captured under the microscope.

A huge thank you to the Port Townsend Marine Science Center Citizen Science Program 2015 for sharing these images with Microscope World.