Help with two idents

[mintakax]

I'm new at this and am struggling with trying to ID things I'm seeing. Could someone ID the two creatures in this short video. The second creature shoots out some kind of long feeler, fascinating !

https://vimeo.com/352779967

and also if you could suggest some kind of reference to ID fresh water pond creatures I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to be able to do it on my own someday.
Thanks !

[Roldorf]

Hi Mintakax

Here is a website to get you started:-

http://lifeinfreshwater.net/

[mintakax]

The first one must be a paramecium and the second some kind of amoeba ? This couldn't be Balamuthia could it ?

[actinophrys]

The first one is definitely a ciliate. It's not a Paramecium, which have a prominent oral groove, but I'm not sure I can make out a mouth well enough to guess what it is instead. Note that while it might be less natural looking, often brightfield gives you better detail for recognizing them. The second one looks like Mastigamoeba or Mastigella, which are Archamoebea, one of a few groups of amoebae that also have flagella. It's a neat find – I've never seen one.

References are tricky to recommend because it depends on what group you are interested in, what kind of details you can observe, and what style of guide works for you. The most general book I've seen is Das Leben im Wassertropfen, which shows most groups you are likely to run into, but it does not seem to have an English version. I like keys, and for protozoans have gotten good use from the older How to Know the Protozoa or more up-to-date Free-living Freshwater Protozoa. But it's really easy to find ciliates they omit; here I'd suggest A user-friendly guide to the ciliates, available from Foissner's webpage.

There are also many good webpages to check against; some are very broad, like the Protist Information Server, others very deep, like Microworld of amoeboid organisms. People have collected a lot more in the resources subforum. I should maybe also mention mine as one that samples a good range of different things, if not with so much detail, which I'd like to think might be of some help starting out.

[75RR]

Just wanted to say great catch on the second 'creature'

https://www.arcella.nl/genus-mastigamoeba/

Mastigamoeba aspera looks like a possible candidate

[mintakax]

The first one is definitely a ciliate. It's not a Paramecium, which have a prominent oral groove, but I'm not sure I can make out a mouth well enough to guess what it is instead. Note that while it might be less natural looking, often brightfield gives you better detail for recognizing them. The second one looks like Mastigamoeba or Mastigella, which are Archamoebea, one of a few groups of amoebae that also have flagella. It's a neat find – I've never seen one.

References are tricky to recommend because it depends on what group you are interested in, what kind of details you can observe, and what style of guide works for you. The most general book I've seen is Das Leben im Wassertropfen, which shows most groups you are likely to run into, but it does not seem to have an English version. I like keys, and for protozoans have gotten good use from the older How to Know the Protozoa or more up-to-date Free-living Freshwater Protozoa. But it's really easy to find ciliates they omit; here I'd suggest A user-friendly guide to the ciliates, available from Foissner's webpage.

There are also many good webpages to check against; some are very broad, like the Protist Information Server, others very deep, like Microworld of amoeboid organisms. People have collected a lot more in the resources subforum. I should maybe also mention mine as one that samples a good range of different things, if not with so much detail, which I'd like to think might be of some help starting out.

Thank you so much for those resources and your help with ID-- I took a small sample from the bottom of a pond near my house and I've seen that amoeba (mastigamoeba) in several of my slides.

[mintakax]

Just wanted to say great catch on the second 'creature'

https://www.arcella.nl/genus-mastigamoeba/

Mastigamoeba aspera looks like a possible candidate

Thank you ! I have a vial of material from the bottom of a pond and I've seen that amoeba frequently. Its very fascinating and I have quite a bit of video showing it moving along. It appears to send out flagella in the direction of travel and to use the flagella either as a rope to pull it along or to sense where its going. This may not actually be the case, but its just what it looks like.

[mintakax]

The first one is definitely a ciliate. It's not a Paramecium, which have a prominent oral groove, but I'm not sure I can make out a mouth well enough to guess what it is instead. Note that while it might be less natural looking, often brightfield gives you better detail for recognizing them. The second one looks like Mastigamoeba or Mastigella, which are Archamoebea, one of a few groups of amoebae that also have flagella. It's a neat find – I've never seen one.

References are tricky to recommend because it depends on what group you are interested in, what kind of details you can observe, and what style of guide works for you. The most general book I've seen is Das Leben im Wassertropfen, which shows most groups you are likely to run into, but it does not seem to have an English version. I like keys, and for protozoans have gotten good use from the older How to Know the Protozoa or more up-to-date Free-living Freshwater Protozoa. But it's really easy to find ciliates they omit; here I'd suggest A user-friendly guide to the ciliates, available from Foissner's webpage.

There are also many good webpages to check against; some are very broad, like the Protist Information Server, others very deep, like Microworld of amoeboid organisms. People have collected a lot more in the resources subforum. I should maybe also mention mine as one that samples a good range of different things, if not with so much detail, which I'd like to think might be of some help starting out.

Thank you so much for providing the resource info, I very much appreciate it and I've finally had time to start looking at them. And especially thank you for your site ! IIt is awesome and I will be looking at it often.