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Interference contrast image of a single living cell. the warts on the oral face are distinctive.
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Infraciliature (left side) of Loxophyllum meleagris (Mueller,1773) Dujardin, 1841. The oral bulge (OB is bordered by one left perioral kinety (PK1) and two right perioral kineties (only PK2 visible here). The dorsal edge bears characteristic nodular protrusions called extrusome or trichocyst warts (TW). A row of unciliated kinetids is seen at the base of each trichocyst wart (UK)The slit-like cytostome is located in the center of the oral bulge. DK= dorsal brush kinetids. Collected from a freshwater canal in Boise,Idaho 10/27/08. Protargol.Brightfield.
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Litonotus (light-o-note-us) is one of the more commonly encountered predatory ciliates. Scyth-shaped, and flattened. The mouth is located on the convex curve of the anterior part of the body (upper right in the picture). The food is captured in part by the action of rod-shaped extrusomes which can be seen just inside the cell adjacent to the mouth. The large structure near the centre of the cell is the macronucleus. The light region towards the rear is the contractile vacuole. Cilia cover the body in sparse kineties. Phase contrast.
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Litonotus (light-o-note-us) is one of the more commonly encountered predatory ciliates. It is flattened, and glides along the substrate, exploring detritus with the anterior convex margin - which is where the mouth is located. There are extrusomes just internal to the margin of the cell, and these can be discharged to kill potential prey - usually other ciliates. Phase contrast.
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Litonotus (light-o-note-us) is one of the more commonly encountered predatory ciliates. It is flattened, and glides along the substrate, exploring detritus with the anterior convex margin - which is where the mouth is located. There are extrusomes just internal to the margin of the cell, and these can be discharged to kill potential prey - usually other ciliates. Phase contrast.
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Litonotus, predatory ciliate. Flattened with mouth located along convex outer edge of the front part of the cell. Numerous extrusomes lie under the mouth. With two large macronuclei located on either side of a smaller micronucleus., From Lake Donghu, China. Phase contrast micrograph.
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Right side view of Litonotus, a common pleurostomatid ciliate genus with many species. Oral aperture is slit-like and lined with extrusomes. Two round centrally located macronuclei. Posterior contractile vacuole. Parallel kineties on right surface (seen well in this image) distinguish this genus from the similar Amphileptus in which longitudinal kineties converge on each other anteriorly and posteriorly. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Oblique illumination
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Litonotus is a predatory ciliate. The mouth extends along the convex margin running from the middle to the front of the cell (at the top of the picture). It is equipped with organelles that are ejected from the cell and are used to immobilize and kill prey. The two dark structures near the middle of the cell are macronuclei.
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This Litonotus cell as been viewed from the side. The face that is applied to the substrate is ciliated. This face is usually called the right side of the cell because it lies to the right of the mouth. The mouth in this image extends from the anterior (to the right of the picture) to about half way down the ventral (or right) face of the cell. Numerous extrusomes abut onto the membrane of the mouth. There are two rounded macronuclear nodes in the pcture and two small micronuclei (1 o'clock relative to the right-hand nucleus and 10 o'clock relative to the left-hand nucleus). Phase contrast microscopy.
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Detail of the anterior (mouth) end of the cell. The mouth is drawn out along the flatened antero-lateral margin of the cell. Extrusomes lie under the membrane and these are used in food capture. Phase contrast microscopy.
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Optical section of the common pleurostomatid ciliate, Litonotus (Wresniowski 1870). Ccollected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. April 2005. DIC
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Found in a sample with Fucus taken from close to Tvarminne Zoological Station on April 3rd, 2012. Bruce Taylor tells us that this may be Litonotus cygnus, we'd be pleased with any feedback.
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Portrait of Litonotus cygnus (Mueller, 1773) Foissner, 1995, a pleurostomatid ciliate. Markedly extensile, this individual is contracted. The slit-like oral aperture on the convex surface extends along most of the length of the neck region. Extrusomes are visible at the base of the neck region on the ventral surface. Two round centrally located macronuclei. Posterior contractile vacuole. Parallel kineties on right surface distinguish this genus from the similar Amphileptus in which longitudinal kineties converge on each other anteriorly and posteriorly. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Phase contrast.
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Originally described by Ehrenberg under the name Trachelius lamella.
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Left side of Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841, a pleurostomatid ciliate found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.
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Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841 a pleurostomatid ciliate found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. The yellow line parallels the distinctive oral bulge which recurves dorsally and to the left at its anterior end. The bulge has a helical structure like a two-stranded string.The pattern is faintly visible here.The dorsal brush consists of a single file of obliquely oriented dikinetids bearing non-motile clavate cilia (red arrowhed). Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.DIC.
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Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841 a pleurostomatid ciliate found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. The yellow arrowhead indicates cilia of perioral kinety 2 which borders the oral bulge on the right side. The distinctive oral bulge recurves dorsally and to the left at its anterior end. The dorsal brush consists of a single file of obliquely oriented dikinetids bearing non-motile clavate cilia (red arrowhed). The light blue arrowhead indicates the posterior end of the oral bulge.Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.DIC.
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Right side of Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841, a pleurostomatid ciliate found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.DIC.
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Dorsal view of Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841.The oral bulge recurves posteriorly and to the left at its anterior end. This pleurostomatid ciliate is found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.DIC.
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Left dorsolateral view of Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841, a pleurostomatid ciliate found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.DIC
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Left dorsolateral view of Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841, a pleurostomatid ciliate found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.DIC
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Acineria incurvata DUJARDIN,1841 a pleurostomatid ciliate found in heavily polluted freshwater and marine habitats. The distinctive oral bulge recurves dorsally and to the left at its anterior end. The bulge has a helical structure like a two-stranded string.The dorsal brush consists of a single file of obliquely oriented dikinetids bearing non-motile clavate cilia. Collected from effluent of a protein skimmer at a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise,Idaho. January 2007.DIC.