Heliozoas by sharing hunting

fpelectronica · Post by **fpelectronica** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:59 am

Hello
On occasions when the prey is large, heliozoos are joined to hunt

https://youtu.be/B9c6I_lpFSw

Francisco

carlos.uruguay · Post by **carlos.uruguay** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:23 pm

Excellent and special moment in this video. As usual

Jacek · Post by **Jacek** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:30 pm

Very nice

Marek Mis · Post by **Marek Mis** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 5:47 am

Very interesting finding ! Is this behaviour ordinary or rather accidental in case of these heliozoans ?

Marek

Ecki · Post by **Ecki** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 1:33 am

Nice find. This is common behaviour by many heliozoans. Actually they don't hunt together but share the food vacuole. It is called a fressgemeinschaft (feeding community). If you flatten them after the prey is digested, it really looks like a cell with zwo nuclei. I have attached an old image that shows two Actinophrys sol cells after jointly digesting an algae.

After they finish digesting, the cells will separate again. Here are some more images of a fressgemeinschaft: http://www.penard.de/Stramenopiles/Actinophryidae/

Some other heliozoans live in colonies and share food as well: http://www.penard.de/Heliozoa/Raphidiophrydae/

Best,
Ecki

sebba28 · Post by **sebba28** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 3:04 am

Very nice.

fpelectronica · Post by **fpelectronica** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 12:47 pm

Thanks for the comments.
Thanks Ecki, is very interesting when multiple heliozoos unite in feeding community.
https://youtu.be/PWI1GwOpu5Y

Francisco