A Spherical Microbe

[Mitch640]

I don't even know where to begin with this one. I have not seen pictures of anything like this one, although I did find a dead one in my jar the other day. It moved slow, but it was fast enough that I had to work at keeping it in the frame. Also, all the small things inside it were moving, like the particles inside a Paramecium.

This was in a drop of water under a coverslip raised up by 4 dots of nail polish. The first time I tried that, and it worked beautifully. I think this sphere would have been crushed if I had just dropped the coverslip on the drop of water.

Here is a video of it.

[Charles Krebs]

This is a testate amoeba belonging to the genus Arcella. If you search the forum for "Arcella" you'll see that it's a popular subject.

[Mitch640]

Thanks for the ID Charles. I thought Testate Amoeba was star shape. This is the first Amoeba I have seen so far.

[Charles Krebs]

A "test" is another word for "shell". These amoebae make these "shells" and live within. (As opposed to a "naked" amoeba, with which more people are familiar). So "testate amoebae" is a term that covers quite a few different, and extremely fascinating creatures.

To get some idea of the variety, take a look at the drawings (Plates 10-39) of an incredible scientist, Joseph Leidy, from 1879:
http://www.xmission.com/~psneeley/Personal/FwrPLA.htm

This page has some basic info as well:
http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/pr ... ts0100.htm

[Mitch640]

Fantastic drawings. I remember the name Leidy from high school. It's been a long time. I love those old drawings, sometimes better than images. Especially mine. LOL

I just found another Arcella in a drop of water I was testing a new video CCD camera on. It exploded just as I found it, and I wasn't recording at the time. Seems to be a bunch of those in my jar though, so there's a good chance I'll find more.

Been a long time since I have had this much fun.