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From sea mullets to feeding rotifers: Top 20 Nikon Small World images of 2015

By // October 14, 2015, 8:00 AM PST // connerforrest

Image 1 of 20

  • 1. Honey bee eye

    Every year, Nikon hosts its Small World competition for microscopic scientific images. Here are the top 20 images from 2015, including photos of plants, animals, and their most interesting tiny bits.

    Hailing from Queensland, Australia, Grimm captured this image of a honey bee's eye covered in dandelion pollen using reflected light.

    Image: Ralph Claus Grimm/Nikon

  • 2. Mouse colon

    From the Stanford University School of Medicine, this image of a mouse colon colonized with human microbiota was captured using confocal microscopy.

    Image: Kristen Earle, Gabriel Billings, KC Huang, Justin Sonnenburg/Nikon

  • 3. Humped bladderwort

    Also captured using confocal microscopy, this image shows the intake of a humped bladderwort plant. This freshwater carnivorous plant typically feeds on small invertebrates.

    Image: Dr. Igor Siwanowicz/Nikon

  • 4. Mammary gland organoid

    This human mammary gland organoid was actually grown in a lab.

    Image: Daniel H. Miller, Ethan S. Sokol/Nikon

  • 5. Mouse brain vasculature

    Here we have the vascular system of a mouse brain with glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.

    Image: Dr. Giorgio Seano, Dr. Rakesh K. Jain/Nikon

  • 6. Moss spore capsule

    Using reflected light, Henri Koskinen of Helsinki, Finland captured this image of a spore capsule of a moss.

    Image: Henri Koskinen/Nikon

  • 7. Starfish

    This starfish image was also captured using confocal microscopy, showing a fascinating amount of detail.

    Image: Evan Darling/Nikon

  • 8. Blood vessels

    What you're looking at is a mouse's ear. Using microscopic imaging techniques, we are able to see the nerves and blood vessels in the skin of this mouse's ear.

    Image: Dr. Tomoko Yamazaki/Nikon

  • 9. Arabidopsis buds

    These are the buds of an Arabidopsis plant, sometimes referred to as rockcress.

    Image: Dr. Nathanael Prunet/Nikon

  • 10. Clam shrimp

    Clam shrimp are a type of crustacean, similar to the mollusc. This photo was taken in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

    Image: Ian Gardiner /Nikon

  • 11. Fern sorus

    A sorus produces spores for a fern. Here we see it at different levels in the maturation process.

    Image: Rogelio Moreno Gill/Nikon

  • 12. Sea mullet embryos

    This image of developing sea mullet embryos was captured using brightfield imaging.

    Image: Hannah Sheppard-Brennand/Nikon

  • 13. Carnivorous plant tentacles

    These tentacles belong to a plant in the Drosera, also known as sundew.

    Image: Jose Almodovar/Nikon

  • 14. Australian grass seed

    Sykora, of Prague, Czech Republic, took this image of Australian grass seed using dark field microscopy, which helps enhance the contrast.

    Image: Viktor Sykora/Nikon

  • 15. Anther

    The anther is the part of a flower's stamen that actually produces the pollen. This image shows the anther of a plant that is in the process of flowering.

    Image: Dr. Heiti Paves/Nikon

  • 16. Feeding rotifers

    Rotifers, also known as wheel animals, are a form of pseudocoelomate animals.

    Image: Charles B. Krebs/Nikon

  • 17. Black witch-hazel

    This image shows a black witch-hazel leaf producing crystals to defend itself against herbivores. It was captured using differential interference contrast, which helps to enhance the contrast of the sample.

    Image: Dr. David Maitland/Nikon

  • 18. Hairyback worm and algae

    Switzerland's Roland Gross caught this image of a hairyback, which is also known as a gastrotrich.

    Image: Roland Gross/Nikon

  • 19. Horseshoe worm larva

    This image of a planktonic larva of a horseshoe worm was captured using dark field microscopy.

    Image: Dr. Richard R. Kirby/Nikon

  • 20. Diving beetle

    Here we see the suction cups on the foreleg of a diving beetle. On average, diving beetles are only 25 mm long.

    Image: Frank Reiser/Nikon

1. Honey bee eye

Every year, Nikon hosts its Small World competition for microscopic scientific images. Here are the top 20 images from 2015, including photos of plants, animals, and their most interesting tiny bits.

Hailing from Queensland, Australia, Grimm captured this image of a honey bee's eye covered in dandelion pollen using reflected light.

Image: Ralph Claus Grimm/Nikon

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By Conner Forrest

Conner Forrest is a Senior Editor for TechRepublic. He covers enterprise technology and is interested in the convergence of tech and culture.