Amoeba attack

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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dy5
Posts: 122
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:50 pm
Location: College Park, MD

Amoeba attack

Post by dy5 »

A while back, there was a brief discussion about whether an amoeba could detect a potential meal from a distance, i.e., without touching it. Here is another observation that suggests at least some amoebae may be able to do it:

I was photographing the pretty gold amoeba (a flamellid?) when a large, dark, spindly amoeba appeared some distance away. (The white, spikey blob is a hypotrich ciliate out of focus.)
Amoeba attack A copy.jpg
The intruder was moving past, but then made a right-angle turn and went toward the flamellid.
Amoeba attack B copy.jpg
Amoeba attack C copy.jpg
The intruder then ripped its prey apart and devoured it. Brutal.
Amoeba attack D copy.jpg
This all happened quite quickly, at least in amoeba-time: the killing commenced less than a minute after the intruder appeared. The black blobs in the photo are rough body outlines of the attacker.
Overlay stage 3 copy 2.jpg
Although the intruder did appear to 'sense' a meal nearby, it still isn't definitive. Both species had very long pseudopodia, and it's possible that they touched somewhere out of the plane of focus.

Cheers, David

Pau
Site Admin
Posts: 6052
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:57 am
Location: Valencia, Spain

Re: Amoeba attack

Post by Pau »

What a hunting sequence! =D>
Pau

Ramos Kenneth D
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Amoeba attack

Post by Ramos Kenneth D »

Could it be possible that it is picking up on chemical signals from its prey? :-k

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