Name this ciliate

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:56 pm

I should know the name of this rather shaggy ciliate, but I don't

However I am sure someone here will.

The top two images show it in profile, and as can be seen the mouth is located at the very front of the cell. The cilia were a bit longer than most. I noticed that, when the motion was "frozen" by electronic flash the cilia formed interesting "waves" as it rotated and fed, especially as seen looking into the front of the cell. For the last image (composite of 4) I put on the 100X and tried to catch some shots showing the mouth and this cilia movement.
(Was that ever frustrating... it seemed like I was trying to take pictures of the finger holes in a bowling ball as it rolled down the lane!

)

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:20 am

Can not say that I know what it is Charlie. Like the "bowling ball" analogy, I could just imagine such a comical sight.

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 8:59 pm

Well I don't feel so bad now, perhaps the ID it is not as obvious as I thought it might be. Anyway, here a a couple more. My best guess at this point is a species of Prorodon.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 4:06 am

Looked through my well worn and noted up Jahns, Prorodon seems to be a good choice, though Jahns references it as being "pear shaped" in the drawing and being 100 - 130µm but the Protist Server has more of an example of what you have here

However I could find nothing similar anywhere else.

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:26 am

From Patterson it looks like Prorodon also. Albert Westphal in Protozoa, 1976, notes that Prorodon ovum is often green because of zoochlorella and is found among plants in fresh water.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:49 pm

According to Doug Breda, he says "amazing pictures" Charles....They all have such fantastic detail.

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:46 am

Stunning photos Charles! The usual CK combo of eye candy and brain fodder - I get a great deal of pleasure from your work - thank you so much

Bruce

Wolfgang Bettighofer · Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:45 pm

Hi Charles,

looking up at Berger/Foissner's "Illustrated guide and ecological. notes to ciliate indicator species. (Protozoa, Ciliophora) in running. waters, lakes, and sewage plants " it can identified clearly as a protostomatid. The former mentioned "Prorodon" is also a genus of Protostomatida, but its nucleus is s-shaped. Your specimen is a Holophrya discolor.

And: Thanks for posting your stunning pictures!

Wolfgang

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:58 pm

Welcome aboard there Wolfgang

After reading your first post, it is quite evident that you are going to fit in quite well with this crowd. As you can see, we have some outstanding microphotographers on this site, some of the best on the web IMO

We will be looking forwards to seeing some of your work and of course your comments and input on the subjects being discussed. Again welcome aboard!

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:38 pm

Hello Wolfgang and welcome.

Your message and identification are greatly appreciated! I hope you will stop by regularly.

There always seems to be something that has us all scratching our heads trying to figure out what it is.
(well... maybe not all of us, but certainly me

)

Wolfgang Bettighofer · Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:48 pm

Charles Krebs wrote:Hello Wolfgang and welcome.

Your message and identification are greatly appreciated! I hope you will stop by regularly.

There always seems to be something that has us all scratching our heads trying to figure out what it is.
(well... maybe not all of us, but certainly me )

Hi Charles, hi Ken,

thanks a lot for the nice welcome!
Charles, your poetry words hit well. It's interesting to learn about the protists world and it's nice to have the ability to fix the moments of in-sights.

Years ago I've tried to illustrate the impression of the third dimension by drawing. But this takes a lot of time... Here, for instance, a Actinosphaerium eichhorni. Two specimen connected by reason of common ingestion , no phase of cell division.

At present I'm arranging a collection at micro*scope, the "tree-of life"-database by David Patterson et al. At Bay Paul Center they are building up a complete taxonomical tree, but all illustrations come from contributers establishing collections. Just register. It's worth to contribute...
Here a link to my little collection:
http://starcentral.mbl.edu/microscope/p ... &themeid=1

It would be nice to meet in this forum and at micro*scope.

Til next time, Wolfgang

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:33 pm

Wolfgang,
That is a wonderful project and site. The alphabetical index page:
http://starcentral.mbl.edu/microscope/p ... azorganism
has been at the top of my "bookmarked pages" list for some time now. It's one the first place I look when I try to ID an organism.

And now I' have just spent the time to look over your contributions and collection, and thoroughly enjoyed them! Congratulations on some very nice work!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:50 am

You know I admire the photomicrography displayed in this forum. Some of the images are stunning and to tell the truth, I find myself envious over some

but even more so envious, the talent of being able to sketch to exacting detail. Great links, both of 'em by the way and some great work your doing there Wolfgang, I will be keeping an eye out for more

Wolfgang Bettighofer · Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:26 pm

Yes indeed, this forum supplies a lot of interesting insights in protist's life combined with a high quality photo-standard. I'm reading here for about six month and it's always a pleasure to look at.
Thanks for all the nice pictures and for managing this site.

Wolfgang

Name this ciliate

Name this ciliate

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