Coenocytic Mold Growing on Fish Food

A coenocyte is a multinucleate cell (cell with more than one nucleus) that achieved multinuclearity through multiple division of a starter nucleus, as apposed to a syncytium, a multinucleate cell composed of cytoplasmically fused individual cells (such as in slime molds, which are not fungi). The hyphae of this mold were aseptate as well, meaning that the individual cells and nuclei were not seperated by the chitinous cell wall of the fungus.

I found this mold growing on a piece of fish food floating in a small pond. Coiled and wriggling among the fungal hyphae were countless worms, such as large nematodes and the spined worms most recently mentioned.

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Dark Field

I use a home-made dark field filter on my microscope. Dark field microscopy is used typically to identify and locate specimens quickly, but it also makes for great photomicrographs! The attached photo is of some pond scum I found. Dark field microscopy works by illuminating only the specimen, leaving the background dark.