dino-eyes

René · Post by **René** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 12:54 pm

Not every dino is a dinosaurus, but this unicelluar dino at 66 um long does also have an eye, is a ferocious predator and hangs out in the sun. Who still dares to think unicellulars are at the bottom of the evolutionary tree?

The eye is a well developed piece of engineering, with a lens which reflects the light into the black melanin body, which is lined with a retina, made from a leftover chloroplast. Behind the eye, in the left part of the body some cigar-like bodies can be seen, these are harpoons that are used to attack prey.

Images with 20/0.7 on an inverted scope.

Best wishes, Rene

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:28 am

Very nice Rene. Is this a marine animal?

I am constantly amazed by single celled animals of all kinds. It has even crossed my mind, that multi-cellular life is a dead end in evolution. Why bother, when a single cell can do almost the same thing, and in some cases, better? LOL

Can you tell me the name of this guy, so I can search for more information?

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:34 am

Rene,

I've heard about these, but don't recall ever seeing an image of them. Not a particularly large creature either, considering all that is "going on". Thanks for posting it.

Ernst Hippe · Post by **Ernst Hippe** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:06 am

René,
after Hoppenrath et al., Marine Phytoplankton, this could be the marine dinophyte Proterythropsis (= Nematopsides) vigilans. Distribution: North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean.
Regards Ernst Hippe

René · Post by **René** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:13 am

Ha danke, Ernst. I forgot to include details here. It is indeed Proterythropsis, which one I'm not sure. Green Proterythropsis sp have not been reported yet. Rare in any case, and generally I am not able to go further in ID then warnowiid in our Lugol samples. But with a lot of luck we find it some now and then in a live sample. This one is from 135km NW of Terschelling.

Yes, it is indeed highly developed. Counterintuitively as it might be, with such rarity it is apparently not a very succesful evolutionary strategy. I certainly hope to find it again next season so I can get better pictures.

René