Embedding living larvae in low-melting agarose forimaging and recovery thereafter v1

This protocol describes how to use agarose with a low gelling point (27-30°C; often calledlow-melting agarose)to immobilize Aiptasia larvae for microscopy. Larvae stay alive and in one place for prolonged periods of several hours but continue to mainly spin around the longitudal axis. After imaging, larvae can be retrieved from the agarose and transferred back to artificial sea water. This is an updated version of this protocol with some minor changes and includes now the instructions how to make VALAP and how to use activated charcoal to limit the search area under the cover slip.