Frontonia & Paramecium bursaria

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:22 pm

Subsequent edit - Frontonia?
Microscope: Zeiss Standard 16
Ocular: Zarf G9 photo-adapter
Objective: Leitz 40/0.7 NPL Fluotar ICT
Substage: Leitz ICT
Camera: Canon Powershot G9
Flash: Vivitar 283
Sample from Warnham LNR, 08 Sep 2008

bernhardinho · Post by **bernhardinho** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:19 am

Hi Graham

this doesn't look like zoochlorellae to me, but much rather aquired food (algae, diatoms etc.). So I think Frontonia acuminata is much more likely.

Best wishes

Bernhard

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:22 am

Could be - there were other individuals that were definitely crammed with lots of salad. I'll see if I can find a suitable image when I get home from work.

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:21 pm

How's this then Bernhard? - Probably P. bursaria with home grown (rather than ingested) salad! I think I'll update the title in line with your ident., making the first posting probably Frontonia

Microscope: Zeiss Standard 16
Ocular: Zarf G9 photo-adapter
Objective: Leitz 40/0.7 NPL Fluotar ICT
Substage: Leitz ICT
Camera: Canon Powershot G9
Flash: Vivitar 283
Same sample location etc. as first image

bernhardinho · Post by **bernhardinho** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:39 am

Yeah, I think this is a homebrew salad buffet

. Also notice the slight difference in shape of the two specimens!

Bernhard

BJ · Post by BJ » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:24 am

Hi,

I think that I have confessed before on this forum that "more or less all ciliates look alike to me". This post just confirms it

If you discount the difference in the number of green bodies and the slight difference in shape that Bernhard has pointed out, the ciliates in Graham's two pictures are very similar. Can I tentatively suggest that the first one is indeed Paramecium bursaria but minus the zooxanthellae. They are known to digest the zooxanthellae if stressed - for example kept for a long time in the dark.

My thought for the day..
Ciao
BrianO

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 7:09 am

Well, this sample was very fresh (and both specimens were from the same sample) - sampled from a well lit location and photographed the same day, so although the first picture could still be Paramecium, I think I go with Bernhard as being more likely to be Frontonia

bernhardinho · Post by **bernhardinho** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 1:37 pm

Brian: well of course one can't be certain from a single pic. But there are some indications to back my point of view. First of all let's stick to the term zooCHLORELLAE (zooxanthellae don't occur in ciliates as symbionts!) As Graham points out, it is very unlikely to find a colourless P.bursaria in a sample that is teeming with sound and green ones! The fact of P.b. loosing its symbionts has been induced in laboratory situations to learn how this matter of aquiring Clorella algae as symbionts without digesting them actually works. To my knowledge it is not known wether this happens in nature at all. Paramecium and Frontonia belong both to the Hymenostomata, so they are of course very similar and especially P.bursaria and Frontonia acuminata are easily confused (it is an old classic error so to say!) P.b. has a slightly asymmetric shape with a little proboscis whereas Fr.a. has an almost perfect symmetry in its ovoid shape. In Fr.a. the CV lies pretty much on the equator of the cell, a bit towards the side and opposite to the side where the cytostome is located. Then Fr.a has a conspicious dark spot at the anterior end close to the cytostome. Both mentioned features can be discerned in the pic in my opinion.

Having said all this I repeat myself: this is all a bit "fuzzy" (to quote Gerd

). The first pic doesn't show ALL the details that we would need for a secure ID.

Um abração

Bernhard

BJ · Post by BJ » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:37 am

O Bernhard,

When someone who knows points out the different features of each ciliate, as you do so clearly in your post, it is easy to see the differences between the two cells however subtle they are.

So now I can identify at least two ciliates - thank you !!

...And now I know who to ask about all the others...

Com um abraco
Brian

PS ..yes the "zooxanthellae" was a mistake...I was reading a lot about foraminifera yeterday.