Amoeba proteus
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Olympusman
- Posts: 5133
- Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm
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Olympusman
- Posts: 5133
- Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm
Finding amoeba
Amoeba appear to be very environment sensitive. At this pond I took a dip from the bottom and a dip from the top. I found no amoebae in the bottom dip but the top dip is very rich in proteus and difflugia (both oblonga and globulosa.
When I do get a dip rich in amoebae I tend to concentrate on the amoebae until the sample goes stale.
Yesterday I tried some vital staining using Methylene Blue, Eosin, Fuchsin, Carmine, Iodine Tincture, Haematoxylin, Amaranth, Crystal Violet and Wright's Blood Stain and found the proteus was impervious to all the stains, though I saw a slight tinge in the nuclei with Haematoxylin.
Looking at the light image above, the small bumps on the tail end of the amoeba suggest this may not be an Amoeba proteus but rather a Polychaos dubium. Aslo a protues flows through one pseudopod at once whereas a dubium flows through several simultaneously.
When I do get a dip rich in amoebae I tend to concentrate on the amoebae until the sample goes stale.
Yesterday I tried some vital staining using Methylene Blue, Eosin, Fuchsin, Carmine, Iodine Tincture, Haematoxylin, Amaranth, Crystal Violet and Wright's Blood Stain and found the proteus was impervious to all the stains, though I saw a slight tinge in the nuclei with Haematoxylin.
Looking at the light image above, the small bumps on the tail end of the amoeba suggest this may not be an Amoeba proteus but rather a Polychaos dubium. Aslo a protues flows through one pseudopod at once whereas a dubium flows through several simultaneously.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA