This is my first foray into micro photography and I was excited to see what I thought were cells having their membranes bursting as a result of an attack by other micro organisms.
According to Google’s Gemini AI, what I had mistaken for cells in my pond sample are large spheres, aka — gas vacuoles, not cells. Gas vacuoles are gas-filled bubbles found in some cyanobacteria that help them float. They rupture when the cyanobacteria dies or is stressed but this wouldn’t be considered an attack by other microbes.
Ok, they’re gas bubbles. I still had good time watching the unfolding drama of gas bubbles popping.