portrait

Description:

Chlamydomonas (clam-ee-doe-moan-ass) a common volvocid (green alga) flagellate. Cells vary in shape from elongate to rounded, this being one of the more elongate cells. With a cell wall, a cup-shaped chloroplasts with chlorophyll B, a red eyespot located external to the plastid, and two equal flagella emerging from the anterior pole of the cell. Differential interference contrast. Animations by Rosemary Arbur of flagellar beat patterns are available here. Material from Nymph Creek and Nymph Lake, thermal sites within Yellowstone Park, photograph by Kathy Sheehan and David Patterson.