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Ventral view of the chillodonellid ciliate, Pseudochilodonopsis polyvacuolata (Foissner and Didier, 1981). The cell is ovoid. The anterior end is drawn to the left as a bluntly pointed rostrum. The ventral surface is flat and the central dorsal surface is arched. There is a flattened narrow circumferential margin. Ciliature is restricted to the ventral surface except for a short dorsal brush. The 7 left somatic kineties are separated from 5 right somatic kineties by an unciliated postoral bare area. The lateral-most 5 left somatic kineties terminate at a right angle to short separate preoral kineties arranged in stair-step fashion from the cytostome to the tip of the rostrum. The medial two left somatic kineties are shorter. There are two short circumoral kineties. The cyrtos opens ventrally. The heteromerous macronucleus is approximately central with one adherent ovoid micronucleus. There are 7-10 contractile vacuoles each with a single ventral excretory pore. Collected from a freshwater stream with abundant pennate diatoms near Boise, Idaho;43° 34' 41.92" N 116° 08' 50.49" W. March 2006. Stained by the silver carbonate technique (see Foissner, W. Europ. J. Protistol., 27:313-330;1991).Brightfield.
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Ventral view of the chillodonellid ciliate, Pseudochilodonopsis polyvacuolata (Foissner and Didier, 1981). The cell is ovoid. The anterior end is drawn to the left as a bluntly pointed rostrum. The ventral surface is flat and the central dorsal surface is arched. There is a flattened narrow circumferential margin. Ciliature is restricted to the ventral surface except for a short dorsal brush. The 7 left somatic kineties are separated from 5 right somatic kineties by an unciliated postoral bare area. The lateral-most 5 left somatic kineties terminate at a right angle to short separate preoral kineties arranged in stair-step fashion from the cytostome to the tip of the rostrum (arrows). The medial two left somatic kineties are shorter. There are two short circumoral kineties. The cyrtos opens ventrally. The heteromerous macronucleus is approximately central with one adherent ovoid micronucleus. There are 7-10 contractile vacuoles each with a single ventral excretory pore. Collected from a freshwater stream with abundant pennate diatoms near Boise, Idaho;43° 34' 41.92" N 116° 08' 50.49" W. March 2006. Stained by the silver carbonate technique (see Foissner, W. Europ. J. Protistol., 27:313-330;1991).Brightfield.
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Dorsal view of the chillodonellid ciliate, Pseudochilodonopsis polyvacuolata (Foissner and Didier, 1981). The cell is ovoid. The anterior end is drawn to the left as a bluntly pointed rostrum. The ventral surface is flat and the central dorsal surface is arched. There is a flattened narrow circumferential margin. Ciliature is restricted to the ventral surface except for a short anterior dorsal brush. (arrow). The 7 left somatic kineties are separated from 5 right somatic kineties by an unciliated postoral bare area. The lateral-most 5 left somatic kineties terminate at a right angle to short separate preoral kineties arranged in stair-step fashion from the cytostome to the tip of the rostrum. The medial two left somatic kineties are shorter. There are two short circumoral kineties. The cyrtos opens ventrally. The heteromerous macronucleus is approximately central with one adherent ovoid micronucleus. There are 7-10 contractile vacuoles each with a single ventral excretory pore. Collected from a freshwater stream with abundant pennate diatoms near Boise, Idaho;43° 34' 41.92" N 116° 08' 50.49" W. March 2006. Stained by the silver carbonate technique (see Foissner, W. Europ. J. Protistol., 27:313-330;1991).Brightfield.
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Dorsal view of the large Chlamydodontid ciliate, Trithigmostoma steini (Blochman,1895) Foissner, 1988. The colorless cell is ellipsoid in outline, broader anteriorly than posteriorly. The right side is convex and the left slightly concave. The right side curves anteriorly to meet the left as a definite beak. There is a dorsal hump extending from the level of the cytostome anteriorly and terminating as a lobular projection that extends beyond the posterior end of the ventral side. the ventral side is flat. The somatic ciliature is restricted to the ventral surface except for an oblique "dorsal brush" of cilia at the left side anteriorly. The somatic cilia cover the ventral surface unlike Chilodonella which has a bare postoral area. There are three preoral kineties the longest of which extends obliquely from the cytostome to the beak along the suture between the right and left kineties. The right kineties curve anterior to the cytostome. The left kineties are straight. There are 2 to 4 postoral kineties. The anterior cytostome is supported by very stout nematodesmata which are slightly protrusible. The ellipsoid macronucleus is central (seen here). There are 10-40 small contractile vacuoles (not well seen in this image). T. steini feeds primarily on algae and diatoms. T. steini differs from T. cucullulus, T. srameki and T. bavariensis are generally smaller, have fewer somatic kineties and lack a dorsal hump. Collected from a freshwater pond near Boise Idaho. Phase contrast.
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Dorsal view of the large Chlamydodontid ciliate, Trithigmostoma steini (Blochman,1895) Foissner, 1988. The colorless cell is ellipsoid in outline, broader anteriorly than posteriorly. The right side is convex and the left slightly concave. The right side curves anteriorly to meet the left as a definite beak. There is a dorsal hump extending from the level of the cytostome anteriorly and terminating as a lobular projection that extends beyond the posterior end of the ventral side. the ventral side is flat. The somatic ciliature is restricted to the ventral surface except for an oblique "dorsal brush" of cilia at the left side anteriorly. The somatic cilia cover the ventral surface unlike Chilodonella which has a bare postoral area. There are three preoral kineties the longest of which extends obliquely from the cytostome to the beak along the suture between the right and left kineties. The right kineties curve anterior to the cytostome. The left kineties are straight. There are 2 to 4 postoral kineties. The anterior cytostome is supported by very stout nematodesmata which are slightly protrusible. The ellipsoid macronucleus is central (seen here). There are 10-40 small contractile vacuoles. T. steini feeds primarily on algae and diatoms. T. steini differs from T. cucullulus, T. srameki and T. bavariensis are generally smaller, have fewer somatic kineties and lack a dorsal hump. Collected from a freshwater pond near Boise Idaho. DIC.
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Ventral view of the large Chlamydodontid ciliate, Trithigmostoma steini (Blochman,1895) Foissner, 1988. The colorless cell is ellipsoid in outline, broader anteriorly than posteriorly. The right side is convex and the left slightly concave. The right side curves anteriorly to meet the left as a definite beak. There is a dorsal hump extending from the level of the cytostome anteriorly and terminating as a lobular projection that extends beyond the posterior end of the ventral side. The ventral side is flat. The somatic ciliature is restricted to the ventral surface except for an oblique "dorsal brush" of cilia at the left side anteriorly. The somatic cilia cover the ventral surface unlike Chilodonella which has a bare postoral area. There are three preoral kineties the longest of which extends obliquely from the cytostome to the beak along the suture between the right and left kineties (seen well here). The right kineties curve anterior to the cytostome. The left kineties are straight. There are 2 to 4 evenly spaced postoral kineties. The anterior cytostome is supported by very stout nematodesmata which are slightly protrusible. The macronucleus is ellipsoid. There are 10-40 small contractile vacuoles (visible in this image). T. steini feeds primarily on algae and diatoms. T. cucullulus usually has <10 contractiloe vacuoles and <23 ventral kineties. T. srameki has ,10 contractile vaucoles and its postoral kineties are more widely spaced than the othe r ventral somatic kineties. Both lack a dorsal hump. Collected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. DIC.
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Ventral infraciliature of the large Chlamydodontid ciliate, Trithigmostoma steini (Blochman,1895) Foissner, 1988. The colorless cell is ellipsoid in outline, broader anteriorly than posteriorly. The right side is convex and the left slightly concave. The right side curves anteriorly to meet the left as a definite beak. There is a dorsal hump extending from the level of the cytostome anteriorly and terminating as a lobular projection that extends beyond the posterior end of the ventral side. The ventral side is flat. The somatic ciliature is restricted to the ventral surface except for an oblique "dorsal brush" of cilia at the left side anteriorly (not seen in this view). The somatic cilia cover the ventral surface unlike Chilodonella which has a bare postoral area. There are three preoral kineties the longest of which extends obliquely from the cytostome to the beak along the suture between the right and left kineties (seen well here). The right kineties curve anterior to the cytostome. The left kineties are straight. There are 2 to 4 evenly spaced postoral kineties. The anterior cytostome is supported by very stout nematodesmata which are slightly protrusible. The macronucleus is ellipsoid. There are 10-40 small contractile vacuoles. T. steini feeds primarily on algae and diatoms. T. cucullulus usually has <10 contractiloe vacuoles and <23 ventral kineties. T. srameki has ,10 contractile vaucoles and its postoral kineties are more widely spaced than the othe r ventral somatic kineties. Both lack a dorsal hump. Collected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Stained by the silver carbonate technic (see Foissner, W. Europ. J. Protistol., 27:313-330;1991). Brightfield.