Peninsula reporter Wang Yuan Han Xiaowei
A laboratory, a stereoscope, is the working environment of Liu Xudong, an engineer of the Marine and Ecology Department of Qingdao Ecological Environment Monitoring Center in Shandong Province.
In 5 years, Liu Xudong monitored more than 200 kinds of benthic animals in the waters of Jiaozhou Bay, and took nearly 500 high-definition "photos", under the microscopic perspective, the life at the bottom of Jiaozhou Bay is like a fantasy blockbuster, which is breathtaking.    
Nearly 500 "photos" in 5 years, more than 200 species of benthic animals
Benthic animals refer to groups of animals that live on the seabed or inhabit the sediment. Dealing with benthic animals is an important part of Liu Xudong's work.
"The ability of benthic animals to thrive well and have diversity is a direct reflection of the health of the marine environment." Liu Xudong, a graduate of ocean university of China, walked into the monitoring laboratory of the Department of Oceanography and Ecology in 2013. His teachers and seniors had warned him that biodiversity research required patience and a "cold bench" to sit on.
Not long after coming to the laboratory, Liu Xudong was deeply attracted by the use of color photographs to show the animal entities in the book when he flipped through a book called "Chinese Seafood Bivalve Atlas", and before that, all the books and materials he had come into contact with were all hand-drawn in black and white. Liu Xudong suddenly had a bold idea, "I can also take pictures of benthic animals!" ”
In the past five years, Liu Xudong has monitored more than 230 species of benthic animals in Jiaozhou Bay and the coastal waters of Qingdao, and taken nearly 500 high-definition "photos". In 2018, he co-edited the "Atlas of Common Benthic Animals in the Yellow Bohai Sea", which was published, and more than 100 high-definition images from 93 to 124 pages in the book were written by him. ”   
A high-definition "photo" was taken like this
  Taking a "photo" of an benthic animal is no easier than taking a picture of someone.
The first step is to go out to sea to sample. Qingdao has three collection missions a year, Jiaozhou Bay has 14 benthic monitoring points, sampling with a mud bucket to grasp the sediment 30 cm deep on the seabed, and the amount of collection at each point is not less than 0.2 cubic meters. The grabbed sediment is washed on site with a 0.5 mm pore size filter, and the live animals are sifted out and bottled. To prevent the animals from swallowing each other in the vials, they are also fixed with formaldehyde solution and then brought back to the lab.
The second step, laboratory sorting, is a very test of eyesight and endurance. Various animal samples are poured in a tray on a white background, illuminated by a high light, and carefully sorted with forceps. "Some very small individual animals, only 1 mm in size, generally sort for 40 minutes and the eyes can't stand it, and they have to stop to relieve their visual fatigue." Liu Xudong said that samples for a voyage need to be sorted for 2-3 hours.
The third step, after counting, weighing, and identifying, is to take a picture. Liu Xudong used not a camera to take "photos" of benthic animals, but a "stereoscope" dedicated to the laboratory. Under stereo microscopy, animal entities can be magnified up to 1000 times and present a 3D stereoscopic effect. A 5 mm hook shrimp can be seen clearly in the bodypiece microscope with its antennae, foot, caudal segment, and even compound eye.
"Compared with traditional hand-drawn drawing, this kind of physical picture has a strong sense of three-dimensionality, clear details, and color, which can help everyone better understand marine life." In the past 5 years, Liu Xudong has accumulated many good specimens and pictures, which provides a rich and valuable reference for the next step of marine life monitoring.
"Perfect" can be sought, and the circle of friends is happy to share
In fact, a "perfect" benthic "photo" can be encountered but not sought.
"Many of the samples taken back are incomplete, and because of the stimulation, the animal's warthog feet, tentacles, tentacles will tighten, and the details will not be revealed." In Liu Xudong's eyes, "perfect" has two definitions, one is that the animal's limbs are complete, the posture is stretched, the characteristics are obvious, and the scientific value and appreciation value are both; the other is to find animal species with good ecological health indications, "such as the Qingdao Wenchang fish, the appearance of this fish shows that the water quality is very good, and it can be happy for several days when encountering one." This fish is also very beautiful, and I can't help but admire it repeatedly. ”
"The middle Amanji insect, the name has a strong Egyptian pharaonic style, belongs to the species of sea pupae, black eyes are very handsome", "photographed the short-horned eye hook shrimp, known as a creature that can exist at 10,000 meters under the seabed, powerful", "Zhong Kui cockroach, a ferocious type, from the intertidal zone of the mouth of the sand", "a ripple insect the size of a needle tip, has always felt that it is the most beautiful", "the head looks like a clown, a big flower face, a strong scale insect of the tin scale family", "checked a morning, turned over 7 books, is a long round axe clam, from the mouth of the Yellow River" ......
This is Liu Xudong's circle of friends, whenever the "perfect" benthic animal "photo" is taken, he is ecstatic and can't help but share, "At first it was the joy of sharing work, and later everyone said that they liked my science popularization, and it became a habit." In the interview, he lamented that he was very lucky, "Studying marine animals is my hobby, and now my hobby has become a job, and I am addicted to it, and I have a lot of fun." ”
High energy ahead, please enjoy:
Life under the microscope is like a fantasy blockbuster
Martens spiny tail
Tumbler: The body shape is an upper narrow and lower width of the ovoid dumbbell shape or a knuckle sausage shape, the shape also looks like a tumbler, so it is called "tumbler worm", which can absorb polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the environment and is very resistant to stains.
Strong scaly insects
Middle Amangi worm
sea urchin
Ripples
Tubo-dwelling nest sand silkworms, sea fishing fish food
Tooth-kissed sand silkworm
Oriental long-eyed shrimp
Convex shell clams
What is it like to have a double head? This is a benthic organism of the tube-dwelling species, settling for eaters. Name: Cone-haired broom-like caterpillar.
Dagu all sea shoots
Two mastoid semi-protrusions, one with an ear-to-mouth conch, form a peculiar "double dragon play bead".
Black brown new bran shrimp
Big cockroaches