Copepod with Euglena hitchikers

Tardigrade37 · Post by **Tardigrade37** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 6:26 pm

It seems that I haven't posted any images in quite some time. I certainly have been enjoying the posts by others and thought it would be good to start sharing again! Not that I'm selfish about the images... Just lazy

Here is a darkfield shot of a copepod playing host to a group of Euglena. These images were acquired way back in May with a 10x/0.30 EC Plan-Neofluar. 13 images stacked in CombineZ. The second image shows the Euglena up close.

Chris

Jan Kros · Post by **Jan Kros** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:42 am

Hello Tardigrade

Nice pictures, but these green organisms are not euglena but it is the green algea Characium spec

Greetings
Jan

Tardigrade37 · Post by **Tardigrade37** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:34 am

Hi Jan,

I don't believe these are Characium as these clearly have a red eyespot. I also have a video of these guys moving in a very Euglena-like way. I'll see if I can dig up that video (if I recall, the flagellum is also visible).

Regards,
Chris

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:45 am

Two great images. It does look like red eyespots and even flagella barely visible. I do wonder how they can 'stick' with the copopod though. When the pods move, isn't there some very high accelerations involved? I would think he would shake any euglena every time he moved.

Franz Neidl · Post by **Franz Neidl** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:53 am

The algae are probably the palmella stage of Euglena.
I can't see flagella ( barely visible mucilage?).

Franz

Ecki · Post by **Ecki** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:41 pm

The algae are probably the palmella stage of Euglena.

I think Franz is right.

uaalgae · Post by **uaalgae** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:09 pm

These attached algae are the benthic genus Colacium which is in the group of euglenoids. These are not the genus Characium (they don't have eyespots). Colacium is often found attached to copepods and rotifers. Can be found in the rectums of larval damselflies. I have observed Colacium so abundant on a copepod that it would swim up off the substrate of a finger bowl, only to sink quickly down to the substrate again because of the sheer weight of the Colacium attached.