This year was the 64th Nikon Small World Photomicrography Contest, the oldest and most prestigious photography contest in the world that analyzes the strange and beautiful world under the light of the microscope.
Daniel Castranova, assisted by Bakary Samasa while working in Dr. Brant Weinstein's laboratory at the US National Institutes of Health, was this year's flaming winner for his image of a juvenile zebrafish that had been "tagged "with fluorescence to show its scales (in light blue) and lymphatic system (orange) using confocal microscopy and image stacking.
Visually it is a fabulous image but it also shows the intriguing scientific discovery that this species of fish has lymphatic vessels within its skull.
Second place went to Daniel Knop for his image of the embryonic development of a clownfish ( Amphiprion percula ), also known as the orange striped fish that starred in the movie Finding Nemo.
Igor Siwanowicz was awarded third prize for his incredible image of a "tongue" (technically known as a radula) belonging to a freshwater snail.
