Blepharisma spp. Foraging

[Ken Ramos]

What captured my attention the most about this big protozoan,again, was the undulating membrane. Three images here, the last two really showing the membrane at the bottom of the organism, in relation to the photograph of course. I sort of like bottoms but not particularly those on protozoa Hey! I maybe old but I ain't dead, at least not yet. The beast was digging around in the detritus for its meal or so it seemed, which made getting a halfway decent shot difficult.

Here's the pics!






Blepharisma spp. (all images)
Sony DSC-P200
Manual Mode
1/200 sec. @ f/2.8 ISO 100
Zeiss Axiostar Plus 40X/0.65 CP Achromat
Oblique halogen illumination w/18mm stop off center
Post Processing: Photo Impact 6

[Bruce Williams]

These fellows are always foraging aren't they. ....and hey, these pics are way better than half-way-decent Ken - you've captured some excellent detail there!

Typical rosey tint but I've never seen a Blepharisma with a tail protuberance like this one.

Bruce

[Ken Ramos]

This one did not seem to be as rosey as most but had a much lighter tint to it, usually the ones I find are almost purple. I use Jahns, How to Know the Protozoa as referrence, along with the Protist Info Server. Microscope is helpful at times too, especially if it is one of those hard to ID critters. Jahns seems to referrence this particular organism as being B. musculus, 130-250µm

Thanks Bruce!

[bernhardinho]

Hi guys,


I think the ID is ok. I found in the book by Kahl, and it seems to make sense.

Great shots Ken.


Bernhard

[Ken Ramos]

Thanks Bernhard So many books, so little money