The flagellate Cryptomonas

[tlansing]

Cryptomonas is a common flagellate in freshwater and I was lucky to get a nice shot of an individual showing the two flagella that are characteristic of this protist and the many chloroplasts in the cell. The orange-colored structures in the middle of the cell are the maupas ovals and there are extrusomes (these are like trichocysts in Paramecium) to the left of the maupas oval in the middle of the cell.

Cryptomonas.jpg (73.08 KiB) Viewed 1906 times

Zeiss Photomicroscope III, Neofluar 40x, optovar 1.25x, DIC
Camera: Canon 1300D with flash

[Wes]

Great shot. I have always been fascinated with the extrusomes and their arrangement.

[tlansing]

Thanks, Wes. I never get tired of the wonders under the microscope!

[KurtM]

Nicely done, it's no small feat to get both flagella in focus as you did!

[tlansing]

Thanks, Kurt

[zzffnn]

Very interesting, thank you for sharing, tlansing.

What do the "maupas ovals" do? I searched but cannot find free download to read.

[tlansing]

Hi zzffnn, thanks for the comment. I have searched online, looked through my protozoology books, and I haven't been able to find out anything about the function of the "Maupas oval". Perhaps its function is not known. Anyone have any information about this?