Nikon's Small World photo competitions are a display of the best photomicrographers across a wide range of scientific disciplines. This year's competition was judged by Ed Cara (Gizmodo), James Cutmore (BBC Science Focus Magazine), Dr. Gary Laevsky (Princeton University), Dr. Igor Siwanowicz (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) and Dr. Clare Waterman (National Academy of Sciences).

From the venomous fangs of a small tarantula to caffeine crystals, here are 2023's winning shots.

2023's Top 20

20th — Daniel Castranova and Dr. Brant Weinstein

Adult transgenic zebrafish head showing blood vessels (blue), lymphatic vessels (yellow) and the skin and scales (magenta).

19th — Marek Miś

Stomata in peace lily (Spathiphyllum sp.) leaf epidermis.

18th — Scott Peterson

A cryptocrystalline micrometeorite resting on a #80 testing sieve.

17th — Yuan Ji

Chinese moon moth (Actias ningpoana) wing scales.

16th — Dr. Diego García

Carbon nanotubes.

15th — Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai

Fluorescent image of an Acropora sp. showing individual polyps with symbiotic zooxanthellae.

14th — John-Oliver Dum

Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle.

13th — Satu Paavonsalo and Dr. Sinem Karaman

Blood and lymphatic vasculatures in the ear skin of an adult mouse.

12th — Sherif Abdallah Ahmed

Cuckoo wasp standing on a flower.

11th — Dr. Diego García

Crystallized sugar syrup.

10th — Melinda Beccari and Dr. Don W. Cleveland

Motor neurons grown in microfluidic device for separation of cell bodies (top) and axons (bottom). Green - microtubules; Red - growth cones (actin).

9th — Vaibhav Deshmukh

Cytoskeleton of a dividing myoblast; tubulin (cyan), F-actin (orange) and nucleus (magenta).

8th — Stefan Eberhard

Caffeine crystals.

7th — Dr. Grigorii Timin and Dr. Michel Milinkovitch

Mouse embryo.

6th — Timothy Boomer

Slime mold (Comatricha nigra) showing capillitial fibers through its translucent peridium.

5th — Dr. David Maitland

Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light.

4th — John-Oliver Dum

Venomous fangs of a small tarantula.

3rd — Malgorzata Lisowska

Breast cancer cells.

2nd — Ole Bielfeldt

Matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box.

1st — Hassanain Qambari and Jayden Dickson

Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red) and retinal vasculature (green).

Via Nikon Small World.