A little help needed

[D0c]

I found six new ones and have managed to identify four of them myself but these two I'm struggling with.

The first one I'm thinking either Litonotus Cygnus or Dileptus. I cannot see a mouth opening at the base of the neck so I'm erring towards Litonotus Cygnus.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154534235 ... datetaken/

The second one I haven't got a clue. The proboscis could be the stem of a vorticella but I don't think it is. Any ideas?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154534235 ... datetaken/

[micro]

2nd one is a eranema or euglena or something similar

[Bruce Taylor]

The first one is Amphileptus procerus (similar to Litonotus cygnus, but more contractile, and with multiple contractile vacuoles instead of a single large one in the posterior, and a slight swelling at the end of the proboscis, where there is a small cluster of toxicysts). The second one is a species of Urceolus, a euglenoid in the family Peranemidae.

[Bruce Taylor]

I had a look at some of the other organisms on your Flickr photostream. The one you're calling "Strombidium" is Strobilidium caudatum (a common freshwater ciliate, sometimes identified as Strobilidium gyrans). the "Vorticella" could also be Pseudovorticella, so should only be identified to family: Vorticellidae. The "Paramecium is clearly a ciliate, but doesn't appear to be Paramecium (it lacks an oral groove, for one thing). Unfortunately, we don't see the cytostome, or other distinctive features, so identification below phylum isn't possible (I would suspect Ophryoglena, or possibly a long Frontonia). The "Euplotes"...is Euplotes.

[D0c]

Thanks Micro

And thanks Bruce for taking the time to look through my Flickr feed.

[Bruce Taylor]

At 2:02 in the second video, and at several points after that, you can see a distinctive collar-like formation at the anterior of the cell. This feature is found only in Urceolus (Peranema and its lookalike Jenningsia both lack this trait).

Also, I see you've renamed the critter previously called Strombidium lagenula. Note that it should be Strobilidium caudatum, not Strombidium caudatum. The similar names and appearances of these genera have caused plenty of confusion, over the years! Some workers have even fused the two, creating a non-existent genus called "Strombilidium".

[D0c]

Thanks for info and I think i can see the collar you mention at the front of the cell. I've renamed it Urceolus.

And thanks for clearing up the confusion between the two Strob ciliates I've now renamed them strobilidium caudatum.

I've added two more to my flickr feed.

I've come to the conclusion that i've imaged Halteria. The reason being the way they jump about and seem to appear and disappear very quickly.

The other one is Coleps. These seem to have armoured casing around the body and seem to rotate.

I cannot find anything else that looks like these, hope I'm right.

[Bruce Taylor]

So, the "Halteria" is actually Cyclidium (another ciliate that jumps!). The other one is Coleps in the traditional sense; however, the old genus has been split, and identification now requires a very close inspection of the ciliate's calcified armour. At this magnification and resolution, the most we can say is that it is in the family Colepidae.