Ploeotia

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus as can be seen here. Cyst. Differential interference contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus as can be seen here. Dividing cell with duplicated flagella, and ingestion devices. Differential interference contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus as can be seen here. This photograph is of a rather damaged cell, the recurrent flagellum is pointing forwards and the anterior flagellum has been lost. This image does however show the ingestion organelle clearly. Differential interference contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus as can be seen here. Differential interference contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus. Phase contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus seen here projecting from the front of the cell. Phase contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus seen here at the front of the cell. This species usually called Entosiphon ovatum, but unlike species of Entosiphon, the ingestion apparatus cannot move in and out. Differential interference contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) a gliding heterotrophic euglenid. One flagellum projects anteriorly and beats with an undulating motion, the posterior flagellum is thickened and trails. The cells are rigid, usually flattened and have a well-developed ingestion apparatus. Differential interference contrast.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) corrugata Larsen and Patterson, 1990. Cells are 8 to 20microns long (mostly 13 to 15 microns) and 6 to 12 microns wide. Cell outline is elliptical to rhomboid. The cells are dorsally convex and ventrally flattened. There are seven ridges on the dorsal side: two of which appear as a marginal rim. The right half of the cell is slightly thicker than the left, with a slight ridge down the middle of the ventral side against which the recurrent flagellum lies. The posterior end of the cell is indented. With two flagella of unequal length, the anterior flagellum is about the same length as the cell, beats rapidly from side to side with an irregular wave motion when the cell glides. The posterior flagellum is about 1.5 to 2.2 times the length of the cell and tapers slightly towards the posterior end of the cell. The reservoir is on the left ventral side of the cell and the hook-shaped ingestion organelle with two rods extends from the right anterior of cell to the left posterior. The cells move by smooth gliding. Common.

Ploeotia corrugata Larsen and Patterson, 1990. Cells are 8 to 20 microns long (mostly 13 to 15 microns) and 6 to 12 microns wide. Cell outline is elliptical to rhomboid. The cells are dorsally convex and ventrally flattened. There are seven ridges on the dorsal side: two of which appear as a marginal rim. The right half of the cell is slightly thicker than the left, with a slight ridge down the middle of the ventral side against which the recurrent flagellum lies. The posterior end of the cell is indented. With two flagella of unequal length, the anterior flagellum is about the same length as the cell, beats rapidly from side to side with an irregular wave motion when the cell glides. The posterior flagellum is about 1.5 to 2.2 times the length of the cell and tapers slightly towards the posterior end of the cell. The reservoir is on the left ventral side of the cell and the hook-shaped ingestion organelle with two rods extends from the right anterior of cell to the left posterior. The cells move by smooth gliding.

Ploeotia corrugata. Cell observed in sandy and muddy marine sediments in the vicinity of Broome, Western Australia in September 2003. This image was taken using differential interference contrast optics.   This work was supported by the Australian Biological Resources Study.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) vitrea Dujardin, 1841. Cells are oval, about 14 to 40 microns long, 7 to 30 microns wide, and not very flattened. The anterior part of the cell is slightly obtuse and the posterior part of the cell is pointed. This species has ten longitudinal ridges, four dorsally, two laterally, four ventrally. Each ridge consists of two fine ridges and these structures are referred to as double raised ridges . The ridges may be well developed and two mid-ventral ridges are close to each other. The anterior flagellum is as long as the cell and beats freely from side to side, and the posterior flagellum is thick and twice as long as the cell. The hook-shaped ingestion organelle is well developed, tapers posteriorly, and has a protrusion at the top of the right hand rod. The nucleus is located in the right hand side of the cell and the reservoir is in the left side. Relatively common.

Ploeotia vitrea Dujardin, 1841. Cells are oval, about 14 to 40 microns long, 7 to 30 microns wide, and not very flattened. The anterior part of the cell is slightly obtuse and the posterior part of the cell is pointed. This species has ten longitudinal ridges, four dorsally, two laterally, four ventrally. Each ridge consists of two fine ridges and these structures are referred to as double raised ridges . The ridges may be well developed and two mid-ventral ridges are close to each other. The anterior flagellum is as long as the cell and beats freely from side to side, and the posterior flagellum is thick and twice as long as the cell. The hook-shaped ingestion organelle is well developed, tapers posteriorly, and has a protrusion at the top of the right hand rod. The nucleus is located in the right hand side of the cell and the reservoir is in the left side.

Ploeotia (plee-owe-sha) oblonga Larsen and Patterson, 1990. Cells are oblong, about 25 - 30 microns long, slightly flattened, and with two major grooves dorsally and three major grooves ventrally. The ridged median ventral groove is more prominent than the two lateral ones. Two flagella of unequal length emerge from the flagellar reservoir situated in the left side of the cell. The anterior flagellum is about the length of the cell and sweeps sideways with irregular waves. The posterior flagellum is about twice the cell length and is thicker than the anterior flagellum. The hook-shaped ingestion organelle has two rods, is well developed and extends almost to the posterior end. The cells move by gliding. The nucleus is in the right hand side of the cell and near the centre. The cells may contain food materials up to 7microns long. Rarely observed.

Ploeotia oblonga Larsen and Patterson, 1990. Cells are oblong, about 25 - 30 microns long, slightly flattened, and with two major grooves dorsally and three major grooves ventrally. The ridged median ventral groove is more prominent than the two lateral ones. Two flagella of unequal length emerge from the flagellar reservoir situated in the left side of the cell. The anterior flagellum is about the length of the cell and sweeps sideways with irregular waves. The posterior flagellum is about twice the cell length and is thicker than the anterior flagellum. The hook-shaped ingestion organelle has two rods, is well developed and extends almost to the posterior end. The cells move by gliding. The nucleus is in the right hand side of the cell and near the centre. The cells may contain food materials up to 7microns long.