MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hi all,

I am hoping someone can help me ID some various pond microbes. Any help would be great since I plan to use these to get kids interested in microbes

Brown amoeba looking organism: https://youtu.be/uaVvAVsJD5w
Almost looks like a leaf/worm: https://youtu.be/QZ11teMyNf0
Jellyfish looking rotifer?: https://youtu.be/d2T1OVA8v4I

1. A very flexible hypotrich ciliate. It's probably a urostylid, but we don't see it closely enough to be sure.
2. A ciliate, probably in the genus Loxophyllum, but it could also be Bryophyllum (a closer view would be helpful)
3. A rotifer in the genus Platyias.

Bruce Taylor wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:27 pm

1. A very flexible hypotrich ciliate. It's probably a urostylid, but we don't see it closely enough to be sure.
2. A ciliate, probably in the genus Loxophyllum, but it could also be Bryophyllum (a closer view would be helpful)
3. A rotifer in the genus Platyias.

*Blows imaginary smoke from tips of finger guns*

Bruce Taylor wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:27 pm

1. A very flexible hypotrich ciliate. It's probably a urostylid, but we don't see it closely enough to be sure.
2. A ciliate, probably in the genus Loxophyllum, but it could also be Bryophyllum (a closer view would be helpful)
3. A rotifer in the genus Platyias.

Wow, thank you so much! What is a little confusing is that Google is showing mostly plants for Bryophyllum.

Could you by chance help me ID this microbe which I think could be Euplotes?: https://youtu.be/i54xHkDX_Pw

dia_dd wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 02, 2020 7:10 am

Wow, thank you so much! What is a little confusing is that Google is showing mostly plants for Bryophyllum.

Could you by chance help me ID this microbe which I think could be Euplotes?: https://youtu.be/i54xHkDX_Pw

Yup, Bryophyllum is also a succulent plant. We're stuck with overlapping systems of nomenclature, unfortunately...one for "plants" and the other for "animals." Of course, ciliates are not animals, but the systems were in place before we knew that. Back in the day, non-photosynthetic microbes were believed to be primitive animals, so their names were regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). "Plants" (which, in the past, included photosynthetic "algae", as well as fungi) were covered by a separate botanical code (ICBN, now ICN). As a result, Lacrymaria is a ciliate, but also a mushroom. Peranema is a euglenoid flagellate, but also a fern (worse yet, the flagellate has a different name under ICN...they call it Pseudoperanema!)

The critter in your video is indeed Euplotes. And, further to the above...I think the rotifer is Platyias patulus. I'm not a rotifer guy, but the shape is pretty distinctive. And, on reflection, the reddish pigment of that first ciliate, combined with its shape and behaviour, mark it quite certainly as a urostyloid.

Bruce Taylor wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:50 am

Yup, Bryophyllum is also a succulent plant. We're stuck with overlapping systems of nomenclature, unfortunately...one for "plants" and the other for "animals." Of course, ciliates are not animals, but the systems were in place before we knew that. Back in the day, non-photosynthetic microbes were believed to be primitive animals, so their names were regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). "Plants" (which, in the past, included photosynthetic "algae", as well as fungi) were covered by a separate botanical code (ICBN, now ICN). As a result, Lacrymaria is a ciliate, but also a mushroom. Peranema is a euglenoid flagellate, but also a fern (worse yet, the flagellate has a different name under ICN...they call it Pseudoperanema!)

The critter in your video is indeed Euplotes. And, further to the above...I think the rotifer is Platyias patulus. I'm not a rotifer guy, but the shape is pretty distinctive. And, on reflection, the reddish pigment of that first ciliate, combined with its shape and behaviour, mark it quite certainly as a urostyloid.

Thank you for this background information, it is very interesting! You sound very knowledgeable on microbes, do you have a science background?

Thanks for the IDs. I'm new at this and was just googling ciliates and looking at pictures which is not very efficient plus to my untrained eye, some organisms look a lot alike

dia_dd wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:42 am

Thank you for this background information, it is very interesting! You sound very knowledgeable on microbes, do you have a science background?

Nope. My background is in poetry. My foreground seems to have lots of science in it, though.