I've been trying to figure out what this is. Here are two [crappy] pics (40x phase) of the same body. It's about the right size for Didinium (~100um), but the body shape doesn't fit. Also, Didinium has the second row of cilia mid body where this is clearly on the posterior.
Thanks for any help! Steve
Is this Didinium?
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No, it's a peritrich ciliate in its "swarmer" phase, with a posterior ciliary wreath. This ring of cilia is only present when the cell is traveling from place to place. In its feeding phase, the ciliate will be attached to the substrate by a stalk, joined to the narrow end of the cell (the posterior). The ring of cilia at the back end of the cell will disappear, and a mouth will open up at the front.
From the images here, we can't identify genus or even family...could be an epistylid, could be a vorticellid, etc.
From the images here, we can't identify genus or even family...could be an epistylid, could be a vorticellid, etc.
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A search on the term "telotroch" will produce results. Most fully-formed telotrochs are somewhat more cylindrical in shape, but this individual might have been caught in transition.nanometer wrote:Thanks Bruce. I had no idea about the life cycle that you have described. Time to read about it!
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