Big Golden Pennate Diatom Rolls Along

This big [about 0.2-mm long] golden diatom was in a sample from a Heron's Head Park Salt Marsh Pond, San Francisco Bay. Shots were taken with a Swift FM-31 Field Microscope at 400X using a Nikon Coolpix 885 Digital Camera. Diatoms are algae in a glass case - the two shells that enclose a diatom are made of silicon. Algae are plants, so Diatoms get their energy and manufacture sugars from the sunlight and CO2. They also frequently move with a slow, but steady motion. Diatoms evolved at about the same time as mammals, so they are relative newcomers.