MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

This organism appeared a few days ago in a sample from the banks of a reservoir. Since I did not see any more similar individuals, I assumed that it could be a mutant individual of Paramecium bursaria, a frequent (but not abundant) species lately. However, looking at the video more closely I now think that it may be a deformed specimen of Bryometopus viridis. This species has been relatively abundant in nearby places in the last month. Here you are the video:




What do you think? THank you very much.

Was it found in moss? The mouth (or what's left of the mouth!) seems to be apical, so P. bursaria is not a candidate. B. viridis is a pretty good guess, but a lot of ciliate species have symbiotic algae, so it is far from certain. Your best hope of identification is to look for intact specimens in the same sample water.

No moss, just plant debris blown by the wind and some aquatic vegetation. In fact, I searched the sample intensively, but no similar individuals appeared, only some P. bursaria (but no Bryometopus).

I will try and take new samples from the same place as soon as possible. Thanks, Bruce!