And here is what appears to be the remains of an Ostracod.
At first, I thought the crustaceans had ingested the Euglena and they started taking the crustaceans apart, but they I found they were circling the carcasses like vultures.
Vulture Euglena
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Olympusman
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Vulture Euglena
In one of my recent pond dips I encountered something I had never seen before. The corpses of micro crustaceans were filled with Euglana. Here is an image of a Daphnia filled with Euglana.
And here is what appears to be the remains of an Ostracod.
At first, I thought the crustaceans had ingested the Euglena and they started taking the crustaceans apart, but they I found they were circling the carcasses like vultures.
And here is what appears to be the remains of an Ostracod.
At first, I thought the crustaceans had ingested the Euglena and they started taking the crustaceans apart, but they I found they were circling the carcasses like vultures.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Dear Michael,
looking at your pictures I would guess that what you have photographed actually are euglenoid flagellates of the genus Colacium. These critters are so called epiphytes, that is they are attached at the OUTside of the waterflea, who carries them around but they do him no harm. If they experience condition they dislike, such as under a coverslip with their host smashed, they can detach from their host and swim away. While swimming, it is very difficult to discriminate them from Euglena.
Bernd
looking at your pictures I would guess that what you have photographed actually are euglenoid flagellates of the genus Colacium. These critters are so called epiphytes, that is they are attached at the OUTside of the waterflea, who carries them around but they do him no harm. If they experience condition they dislike, such as under a coverslip with their host smashed, they can detach from their host and swim away. While swimming, it is very difficult to discriminate them from Euglena.
Bernd
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Olympusman
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Euglena
Dear Bernd,
These are stacked images and when I focused through the thickness of the specimens, it appeared that were filling the inside of the shells, so from what I could see, they were inside the shells.
These are stacked images and when I focused through the thickness of the specimens, it appeared that were filling the inside of the shells, so from what I could see, they were inside the shells.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA