Three strange amoeboid organisms

[Wes]

Recently I started suspending coverslips on the surface of water samples so they can develop a biofilm which attracts strange protists. Here are three examples of interesting amoeboid organism that I found.


Diplophrys


Ditrema


Microgromia socialis or Lecythium hyalinum

[75RR]

Recently I started suspending coverslips on the surface of water samples so they can develop a biofilm which attracts strange protists.

Neat idea + interesting catches!

[Wes]

Thanks 75RR. Adding some organic matter helps a lot too as it provides nutrients for the developing food chain.

[smollerthings]

The last pic is just waoooo

[Francisco]

Magnificent photographs.
I think we have:
Lecythium hyalinum and Diplophrys

[Wes]

Thank you smollerthings and Francisco

I think we have:
Lecythium hyalinum and Diplophrys

How do you tell the difference between Microgromia socialis and Lecythium hyalinum

[Javier]

Impressive images and very interesting experiment!

[tlansing]

Hi Wes,

Very beautiful pictures! I have been thinking about the floating coverslip technique and your interesting findings have inspired me to try it. You have probably already checked this out, but there is more information on Microgromia (and others) on Microworld website. Here is the entry on Microgromia: https://www.arcella.nl/microgromia-2/. The paper he mentions from Martin Kreutz is available at the Mikrokosmos site (https://www.zobodat.at/publikation_series.php?id=220; although in German, you can use online translators to get a version in English). Martin Kreutz has also used the floating coverglass technique to study Microgromia and other small testate amoebae (and many other things!), as he notes here: https://www.mikro-tuemplerforum.at/view ... omia#p1781 (again, you can use a translator like Google Translate if you don't read German).

Tim

[Wes]

Thank you Javier and Tim

The paper he mentions from Martin Kreutz is available at the Mikrokosmos site

The Mikrokosmos site I had not seen, only an aggregated PDF with various issues. Thats awesome, thanks again!

[Francisco]

Thank you smollerthings and Francisco

I think we have:
Lecythium hyalinum and Diplophrys

How do you tell the difference between Microgromia socialis and Lecythium hyalinum

It is difficult to distinguish between the two.
Microgromy tends to be more shaped like a "bottle with a neck" than Lecythium, which tends to be rounder.
Lecythium is, I think, more abundant for what, I think, that might be.

[Wes]

Thank you smollerthings and Francisco

I think we have:
Lecythium hyalinum and Diplophrys

How do you tell the difference between Microgromia socialis and Lecythium hyalinum

It is difficult to distinguish between the two.
Microgromy tends to be more shaped like a "bottle with a neck" than Lecythium, which tends to be rounder.
Lecythium is, I think, more abundant for what, I think, that might be.

Thanks for the tip, I've edited the label under the image to reflect that.

[ImperatorRex]

Great photos Wes! Thanks for sharing.

[Wes]

Thank you Jochen.

[kwesi]

Here is the entry on Microgromia: https://www.arcella.nl/microgromia-2/

Wow, looking at this I now realize I've seen these in my cyanobacteria culture, but I didn't pay them any mind because I thought they were just debris. I'll have to try to find more now!

[Wes]

Here is the entry on Microgromia: https://www.arcella.nl/microgromia-2/

Wow, looking at this I now realize I've seen these in my cyanobacteria culture, but I didn't pay them any mind because I thought they were just debris. I'll have to try to find more now!

Nice, if you take photos feel free to share them here (or an entirely new thread), these are absolutely fascinating organisms.