Anglerfish Ovary & Microscopic Photography

10 October 2009 · Michael Gakuran · bioluminescence

Ever seen what the ovary of that bioluminescent deep sea monstrosity the anglerfish looks like? How about the mouth of a sea urchin, oral surface of a starfish or a freshwater dinoflagellate? Dig into this collection of microscopic photographs that show just how much we’re really not seeing in our lives.

I came across this fantastic collection of photographs as part of the annual Nikon Small World competition. All credit for these beautiful images goes to their respective authors. You can find all the images and sources in the Nikon gallery. Enjoy!


anglerfish-ovary

The ovary of a deep sea anglerfish

anglerfish

And here’s anglerfish resting on a pinkie. Tiny! (Source: Whitman College)

WidderAnglerfishLG

And anglerfish looking fishy. (Source: Monterey Bay Aquarium)

oral-surface-starfish

Here’s the oral surface of a starfish. Be sure to floss now.

lobster-egg

Aww, how cute! A lobster egg. Here, here little eggy…

whole-finch-testicle

By jove! I think that’s a whole finch testicle!

african-clawed-frog-tadpole

African clawed-frog tadpoles. Mmmmm….

drop-of-pond-water

Ugh… And THIS is just what we find in *one* drop of pondwater?

freshwater dinoflagellate

Freshwater dinoflagellate. Not sure about this one, but some forms are bioluminescent!

sea-urchin-mouth

A fiery pit of anemone doom… Or just the mouth orifice.

guppy-fish-embryo

A guppy fish embryo. Can we all say together..? Awwwww….

giant-liposomes

Giant liposomes. Yea, me too… What??

snowflake

A little early, but here’s the first snowflake of the year.

zebrafish-larvae-fluorescent-neurons

A zebrafish larvae with fluorescent neurons. Tasty.

fruit-fly-embryos

And lastly, some fruit-fly embryos that look suspiciously like skittles…

Alrighty! Be sure to check out the full list on the Nikon homepage! Definitely many more freakishly cool pictures there that I missed out ^^.

Oh, and tell me, what was your favourite picture here, and why?