portrait

Description:

Portrait of the haptorid ciliate, Monodinium balbianii (FABRE-DOMERGUE,1888). The body is a stout cup shape, sometimes more narrowly rounded posteriorly. The oral aperture is at the end of a prominent cone-shaped proboscis that protrudes from the center of the truncate anterior end. The proboscis contains many long toxicysts. There are 50-100 rows of basal bodies but only a narrow circumferential band of these forms the single anterior ciliary girdle. The midbody macronucleus is horseshoe-shaped (as seen in section here) or reniform. There is a single spherical micronucleus (not seen here). The contractile vacuole is posterior. Swims very rapidly, rotating on long axis. Feeds on small flagellates and other ciliates. Collected from organically enriched freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho in September 2003. DIC optics.