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Investigation of Anatomy of Zooplankton by DAPI, Nile Red and Phalloidin Staining
Summary
Researchers used fluorescent staining to study the body structures of four zooplankton species, and incidentally found Nile Red signals indicating microplastic particles inside some specimens — a secondary finding that supports the well-established pattern of zooplankton microplastic ingestion in marine environments. The primary focus of the paper is comparative zooplankton anatomy and phototaxis behavior, not microplastic contamination.
The behavior of phototaxis is essential for the living of benthic and biofouling organisms, and it is also related closely with factors such as locomotion, sense of light and ecological niche. This experiment sought to find the correlation by analyzing and comparing body structure of some zooplanktons, these include eye structure, muscle, lipid, and fat distribution. In this experiment, samples of bryozoan (Bugula neritina) larvae, amphipod (Niphargus sp.), isopod (Cirolanidae sp.), and copepod (Harpacticoid sp.) were treated with three types of fluorescent stain, DAPI, Nile Red and iFour™448 Phalloidin. The result of the experiment showed that the advance eye structure in Amphipod (Niphargus sp.) and Isopod (Cirolanidae sp.) may allow them to identify color, shape and react to change in light condition faster than bryozoan (Bugula neritina) and copepod (Harpacticoid sp.) which bears simple eye structures. It was observed that more muscle fibers in of Amphipod (Niphargus sp.) and copepod (Harpacticoid sp.) may contribute to faster locomotion comparing to bryozoan (Bugula neritina) larvae. Beside these results, Nile Red signals also suggested the presence of microplastics inside some zooplankton specimens, indicating an environmental issue that can further influence the ecosystem and Human.