portrait

Description:

Clathrulina, one of the desmothoracid protists. Traditionally classified as the heliozoa because of the star-shaped appearance of the cell, but the heliozoa have always been a rag-bag of unrelated organisms. Desmothoracids may adopt one of several forms. A ‘mature’ trophont (feeding form) is an amoeboid organism with stiffened arms. It lives in an spherical (ish) organic lorica which has large openings. The chamber is borned on a hollow stalk, and several stalked loricae may be joined end to end or in a branching arrangement. This image shows the rootlet-like secretrions which attach the stalk to the substrate. Phase contrast micrograph.