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💿 Izzy 💿

@ittybitty._planktons

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ASD, 🇨🇦🇳🇮🇲🇽 20
🦠personal independent study
Interdisciplinary artist with a love for the forgotten. here to educate!
art: @bitbit2k5
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Copepod (likely harpacticoid) nauplius larva from the same livestream as my previous post. This was my first time seeing endoparasitic ciliates (?) on a larval copepod. #copepod #nauplius #lightmicroscopy #galactiasmicroscopy #larvae taken in Asheville, North Carolina by @ittybitty._planktons

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7 months ago

Lovely little harpacticoid copepod from the UNCA botanical gardens. This was seen during my livestream last night on Discord.
#harpacticoida #copepod #microscopy #lightmicroscopy #galactiasmicroscopy taken in Asheville, North Carolina by @ittybitty._planktons

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7 months ago

A new find for me - Opercularia. I don't know anything about these! I thought they were Epistylids at first. The colonies are huge!
#ciliophora galactiasmicroscopy #microorganism #microscopy #microbiology #microbe #microphotography #photography #microscope #micro #animalcule #lightmicroscopy #amscope #photomicrography
#protozoology #protistology #ciliate #sessilida #opercularia taken in The Park at Flat Rock by @ittybitty._planktons

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a year ago

Hello, it's been a while. I have gone through a lot over these past months. These are social Stentors with vermiliform nuclei. I am unsure of the species as of this moment. They were found at one of my favorite sampling locations. Stentors are known as trumpet animals/animalcules because if their unique body shape.

#galactiasmicroscopy #microorganism #microscopy #microbiology #microbe #microphotography #photography #microscope #micro #animalcule #lightmicroscopy #amscope #photomicrography
#protozoology #protistology #stentor taken in The Park at Flat Rock by @ittybitty._planktons

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a year ago

Love love love. Tank did surprisingly well on the move back home. Thank goodness the drive was only about 20 minutes.

#snail #freshwaterinvertebrates #freshwater #aquarium #copepod #physellaacuta #bladdersnail by @ittybitty._planktons

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a year ago

🌟 Plankton Point is finally established! 🌟

I built, painted, sealed, and installed this sign myself over the course of the month (:
However, I had started an earlier rendition of the sign earlier and ended up abandoning the project. This has been in the works for a while! I got permission to put this sign up at my college's farm pond that is often overrun with microcrustaceans!
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#planktonpoint #warrenwilsoncollege taken in Warren Wilson College by @ittybitty._planktons

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2 years ago

Plankton-watching in the wild except the highlights are: snapping turtle couple stalking me & pigs in puddles taken in Warren Wilson College by @ittybitty._planktons

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2 years ago

A female fairy wasp somehow got trapped in one of my samples from early February. Fairy wasps (also known as fairy flies) are the smallest insects on the planet. While this individual isn't a member of the smallest fairy wasp species, it was still a very exciting find for me. Ever since I heard about fairy flies as a young kid, I've been wanting to see one, I just didn't know how to find them. I never expected to stumble across one by chance. They are actually an incredibly common parasitoid wasp, with adults living only a few days at most. While there are other microscopic and near-microscopic wasp families, the fairy wasps stand out for their very long antennae. The most fascinating fact I found is that there are some aquatic fairy wasps that can live up to 15 days without surfacing and use their wings as paddles for swimming. I am unsure of the species of the individual I found, but it was deceased and hadn't been crushed by the cover slip, so it most likely drowned or fell in after death.

As for a personal update, I am just now realizing that many of my current executive function issues may be due to depression. Nothing severe, just a long-term lack of motivation. I'll be okay.

#fairyfly #fairywasp #wasp #wasps #mymaridae taken in Dr. John Wilson Community Garden by @ittybitty._planktons

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2 years ago

God I'm so sorry I had to take a break from posting here idk

I've been doing lots of microscopy just not posting.

Here's some pretty oscillatoria.
#microscopy #galactiasmicroscopy #oscillatoria #cyanobacteria taken in Warren Wilson College by @ittybitty._planktons

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2 years ago

You know how it is taken in Warren Wilson College by @ittybitty._planktons

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2 years ago

The tinkerbell tree ciliate

A few years ago, I found one of the most beautiful microscopic organisms under the microscope, Carchesium. Despite all of the time that has passed, there are very few organisms that have given me as much awe as this. Finding them is always an absolute delight, especially in such large numbers as these. In fact, this was the largest group of colonies I had ever seen. While walking along the pond's edge, a submerged stick with white "fluff" caught my eye. The fluff was made up of hundreds of thousands of carchesium cells.

The pond, Warren Wilson's "Pig Pond" - as you may know by now, is affectionately referred to by me as "Plankton point" due to the sheer volume of small life living there. Without fish, they are free to bloom in large numbers.
Today, I got permission to install my "Plankton Point" sign by the pond.
Recently I was granted a wonderful internship opportunity that included a small timeframe of being a freshwater ecology educator. Yesterday, I learned that I was rejected, and my heart was broken. It would have really helped me towards my ideal career.

However, one of my biggest goals in life is to make changes in the world, one of those changes being a better understanding of the often-overlooked microscopic life. Getting a career is a part of that process, yes.. but so are small things like writing these captions, recording my observations, illustrating finds, and even putting up the sign for Plankton Point - sign that will proudly feature a copepod, an ostracod, Daphnia, and a rotifer. Every little step matters, and I am excited to discover which other ways I can contribute to this field in need of a lot more appreciation.

#carchesium #galactiasmicroscopy #microscopy #sessilida #peritrich #vorticellidae #ciliate #ciliophora #lightmicroscopy #nikon taken in Warren Wilson College by @ittybitty._planktons

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2 years ago

Tardigrades found in a quiet, mostly stagnant, and muddy stream. At least 4 in this slide. I've never seen them so active before! Hopefully, someday, I can collect a new sample from the location. It's very hard to get - the same sample I found Hydra viridissima, midge larvae, and Tokophrya cyclopum - so much mud, sinking about a foot deep. I've noticed a surge of luck for tardigrade capture when I sample the most inconvenient sites.

There's a tardigrade researcher and former professor working at my school. He was in a fairly recent episode of the ologies podcast. I'm hoping I can get in touch with him soon!

These are likely members of the order Parachela, at different life stages.

Ignore me saying "stop" at one point in the video, I don't remember the context lol

#galactiasmicroscopy #waterbear #waterbears #mosspiglet #mosspiglets #tardigrade #tardigrades #tardigrada #animalcule #microanimal #microscopic #microscopy #infusoria taken in Warren Wilson College by @ittybitty._planktons

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2 years ago