I'm currently conducting a research on the phytoplankton composition of a series of ponds and water streams in moutain areas of my state (Bahia, Brazil). These organisms in the pictures are very frequent in my samples, but I can find no information on them. Any specialist would help me out with this?
Hi Vladimir,
I have already encountered such things in plankton samples (from France mainly). It is indeed hard to find information on them but i think it's because their are not plankton organisms!
I'd tend to say these are trichomes from terrestrial plants ("plant hairs"). These structures are hard so they take time to get degraded. Hence, they end up quite often in plankton sample.
You may want to ask a botanist so that he/she can check that i'm not talking rubbish
Hope it helps!
Another suggestion given by a collague but I do not know what the english name is for this, but I try to explain: It doesn't seem to be an algae, because it doesn't have that much green stuff, but what about a small aggregation of rootcells of higher macrophytes containing airbubbles. Maybe it is a way of dispersal for these macrophytes ?
I agree with Nicolas,
These structures are trichomes, maybe from bromeliads, which are pretty common in Bahia mountains. I have found those also in phytotelmata samples.
I thank each of you for the kind answers. Some researchers from my own university have also mentioned that these could really be trichomes from bromeliads, such as Nicolas Djeghri and Geraldo Ramos have suggested. Best regards!
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