Recognizing Prymnesium parvum using the microscope

The photos and video clips in this folder show what P parvum looks like under the microscope.

The first video clip is a dark field view showing the way P parvum move when viewed at 40 X. In this video they look like stars in the night sky but it is useful as it shows the speed at which they move and the way they move when viewed at 40 X. They are a little like inquisitive young dogs, sniffing at all the different things in a new place they have not been before. Click here to see this video. The best result is seen with the video on full screen: go to VIEW, then FULL SCREEN, after the video has been downloaded

The second video clip in another dark fiels shot at 100 X. The magnification is still too low to see any detail, but again the speed and movement of the Prymnesium is informative. Click here to see this video.

At 400 x the 2 flagella can be seen and so can the haptonema (spike). The cell needs to be sitting still to see these, and you may need to wait a few minutes and look around on the slide to find some cells that are sitting still. They may take a few minutes to settle down. The distinguishing features are 1) the waving flagella and 2) the spike or haptonema. The shape of the cell can vary a lot, from quite long and narrow to round, to pear shaped or club shaped. Size is also quite variable from 8 -18 microns long. With practice they can be easily recognised at 400X, and it is a lot easier using phase contrast.

Click here to see a P parvum cell at 400 x under phase contrast – the parvum cell is the bright yellow object in the photo,

1000 x photos and videos are done using oil immersion, and the features are easy to see at this power. These are normal bright field shots. Click here to see a photo and here to see a video. The video shows very clearly the waving motion of the flagella