These protozoans are quite abundant in my pond water aquarium. Very active swimmers in a helical pattern; I'm surprised the cilia are not showing a metachronal rhythm.
I'm guessing this character is loaded with food vacuoles, the center one having a green desmid (?).
Is the clear circle at the top a contractile vacuole?
Anyone any ideas for an ID?
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
That's a great picture, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to let others help you sort out the internal organelles. (My first thought about that large organelle in the center was that it might be the nucleus, and like you, I also would think of a contractile vacuole for the one near the side of the organism.)
Perhaps it would help a bit with identification of the ciliate to know more about its 3-D shape. Is it fairly fat and round in cross-section or is it more flattened and disc-like when seen from the side? Is this his actual free-swimming shape, or has he been flattened a bit by the coverslip? I don't see any sign of the adoral zone, and I'm not sure what to make of that.
Thanks John.
I looked at another specimen and yes that is a contractile vacuole.
These guys are more flat than round; he's not too much restrained by the coverglass. He was still able to zip around (slowed down a bit by ProSlo) but did not have enough space to rotate in his normal corkscrew behaviour.
I doubt that large central sphere is a nucleus. I suspect the nucleus is more 'inside' and not visible due to the cilia coat and the protoplasm.
I like the detail I get with DIC but am not crazy about the colours.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
Very nice detail. I have seen many of these guys, but they have been far too fast for me to see any detail and I have not tried the Protoslo yet.
You probably already know this, but I will mention it anyway. If your shooting in RAW mode you can adjust the white balance to get rid of the green with one click.
