Strange looking unknown. Any Ideas?

[Charles Krebs]

I took a few days and headed up into the North Cascade Mtns for some fall photography. Naturally I grabbed a few water samples to see what might dwell in the small lakes and streams I visited. While the cold clear waters in this area are not as prolific as the eutrophic pond near home, I always seem to find creatures that are new to me. The one pictured below is a real puzzle to me. I went through my books and searched online a bit, but found nothing like it. My first impression was that it was an unusual ciliate, but perhaps it is some tiny ciliated worm? The size is approximately 50x250 micron. As pictured here, it generally moved from left to right. The long band of cilia in the middle seemed to aid in locomotion as well as collecting and directing food into a "mouth" located right in the middle of the picture. It appeared that food vacuoles were formed much as is seen in a paramecium. Any thoughts as to ID would be appreciated!

By the way... this guy lived in a very pretty location. If you would like to see its former home, have a look here.

[rjlittlefield]

Any thoughts as to ID would be appreciated!

... have a look here.

It's Mt. Shuksan! I've never been there, but I bought the calendar.

Oh, you meant the bug. Sorry, I don't have a clue on that one. It's an interesting critter, though.

--Rik

[Ken Ramos]

You know Charlie your microphotographs are always an inspiration for one to view but your landscapes of the area in and around where you live are as equally inspiring.

At first glance I thought this to be an organism in the process of division but it seems not the case I suppose. As you probably know, there are over 50,000 species of protists with two or more new ones being discovered each day, it could be you got lucky but then again...

A couple of fantastic images there Charlie but of course we would not expect anything less from you. Thanks!

[Charles Krebs]

Mt. Shuksan it is! Talk about a place with permanent tripod holes in the ground!
But I do like that entire area and try to get up there for a few days every fall if possible.

As for the critter, it's quite distinctive when seen, so I'm hoping someone will recognize it.

[Thomas Ashcraft]

Charlie, was there more than one of these guys in your sample? If this was your only specimen, then I'm wondering if it is a Bursaria or something with another species stuck in its mouth.....? Or a combination/collision of two species....?

Just guessing really.

Tom

[Charles Krebs]

Tom... I came across two individuals (each on a different slide). I stayed with it quite a while to photograph it, as well as to be sure it was not a "damaged" individual, or some such anomoly. The second specimen appeared the same.

[Wim van Egmond]

Great picture! It looks a bit like a termite gut symbiont. And 'wow' what a mountain. I guess we don't find that type of protist in my country because it is so flat here!

Wim

[Thomas Ashcraft]

Tom... I came across two individuals (each on a different slide). I stayed with it quite a while to photograph it, as well as to be sure it was not a "damaged" individual, or some such anomoly. The second specimen appeared the same.

Hi again Charlie,

I could be way wrong and I am still just only musing but I still get a sense that you have two separate microbes combined into one, even though you have two separate examples of this.

The reason I write this is because I have seen certain species eat another species at only a particular point in time. For example, in my sample jars there was a period when Paramecia would ingest Arcella amoebas. In this case, I witnessed a bunch of Paramecia with Arcellas inside......and I only saw this occur for a couple of days.....and have not seen it since. It was like something said to the Paramecia.."Time to intake Arcellas."

Maybe you collected your specimens on a day when two distinct species were interacting in a rare and certain way...... ??

Anyway, just musing. ( I hope I am being clear.)

Tom

[bernhardinho]

The reason I write this is because I have seen certain species eat another species at only a particular point in time. For example, in my sample jars there was a period when Paramecia would ingest Arcella amoebas. In this case, I witnessed a bunch of Paramecia with Arcellas inside......and I only saw this occur for a couple of days.....and have not seen it since. It was like something said to the Paramecia.."Time to intake Arcellas."

Hi Thomas

I think that is a very good point there. There are a couple of carnivorous ciliates that engulf their prey, for instance Didinidium feeding on Paramecium, or Homalozoon and Lacrymaria. The question remains: which organisms do we see?

Bernhard