Homalozoon vermiculare hunting

[Michael Müller]

Some time ago I observed the cilate Homalozooen vermiculare hunting other ciliates. H. vermiculare carries some toxicysts at his front, which are fired on the prey.
Note the "parapharyngeal mass", a accumulation of small droplets in the pharynx of the ciliate, which is visible before catching of the pray. After swallowing the pray, the mass is gone - it is swallowed together with the pray an is probably used for digestion.

[janvangastel]

Very nice video. I never saw this species before.

[Chris Dee]

Excellent catch Michael, interesting to watch it strip the contents of the ciliate, never seen that before. Good work.

[Rapidray]

He did get a chunk out of him for sure! Nice video.

[Bruce Taylor]

Great video, Michael. Homalozoon is one of my favorite ciliates....quite common in my local ponds, but I've never caught one eating, so didn't realize the parapharyngeal granules would be swept away along with the food vacuole. Very interesting!

[Javier]

Amazing capture!

[Wes]

Very interesting video. I didn't expect such a big mouth

[Michael Müller]

Thank you to all for your warm words. It's always fascinating to observe the behavior of the microscopic creatures in a micro-aquarium.

Best regards

Michael