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Francis Bunker

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Micro images

Image title:

The Glowing Egg Case

Image description:

An iridescent cystocarp of the red seaweed Chondria caerulescens. On a shallow dive in the Daucleddau estuary in September 2022 I spotted small clumps of seaweed covered in glowing white dots looking like tiny Christmas tree lights. I collected a plant and it turned out to be Iridescent Cartilage Weed (Chondria caerulescens) with white iridescent cystocarps (female reproductive structures) which were just less than 1 mm in width. Not only were the cystocarps iridescent but also the branches where individual cortical cells shone blue and green and white. Such a spectacular seaweed from a beautiful but rarely visited part of the Milford Haven waterway. Chondria caerulescens is an uncommon species in Britain and Ireland. I photographed the image using an OMD E-M1 Mark II mirrorless camera mounted on a Leica DMLB and a series of 7 photographs were stacked using Helicon Focus software to provide a good depth of field.