Floscularia ringens

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c-krebs
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Floscularia ringens

#1 Post by c-krebs » Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:29 am

I'm adding another post today since the primary point of the Campanella post was the interesting cilia motion that was "frozen" by using electronic flash. With this critter the cilia motion a a key attraction as well. This is a favorite creature for me. It is mesmerizing to watch when feeding, and the manner in which it builds its tube is fascinating.

These rotifers build beautiful little tubes of perfectly spherical "bricks". If you observe them you can see that they manufacture the bricks in a "socket" in the head. It starts as a small speck and is constantly and rapidly rotated as more and more detritus is added, building it in size. When the brick reaches proper size the rotifer extends up slightly and quickly but carefully attaches the new ball to the top edge of the tube. Here is a link to a video showing this process. The quality is rather poor :( , but it does provide a good look at how the rotifer adds another circular "brick" to it's tube
http://www.krebsmicro.com/videos/rotifer_flosc.wmv

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek first observed rotifers in 1674, which he described as “wheel animalcules.” When you see the cilia movement on Floscularia it really does look like a wheel turning. But up close it is the rhythmic whipping motion of the cilia that gives this impression.

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75RR
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#2 Post by 75RR » Wed Aug 24, 2016 12:48 pm

Brilliant first image and intriguing video.

Seeing it create and place the "brick" is in a way shocking - it raises questions about where does one place such an animalcule on the sentience scale.
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Radazz
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#3 Post by Radazz » Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:49 pm

I've run out of superlatives.
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KurtM
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#4 Post by KurtM » Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:21 pm

Yep, your work just knocks me out to absolutely no end! And this is one of my favorite subject, along with Limnia rotifers which are very similar, but generally a bit smaller and build up colonies that look like trees.

This also reminds me I need to get back to studying up on employing electronic flask in photomicography. Thanks again for the lovely art and great inspiration Charles!
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
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McConkey
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#5 Post by McConkey » Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:38 pm

Excellent images as always! Thank you for sharing and the video is especially interesting! *EDIT* Would these just be found in good old fashioned pond goop or is there specific conditions that allow them to grow?

Kurt - At the weekend i attempted to adapt a flash unit to my setup, i purchased a relatively cheap flash off amazon (one that i didn't mind taking apart and frankensteining), everything was going extremely well up until i made contact with the capacitor...needless to say i ended my adventure shockingly quickly! :roll:
Karl
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billben74
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#6 Post by billben74 » Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:18 pm

Fantastic video. I can see why you use it as your avatar (here). That building process is amazing.

I feel the world lost something when we stopped using the term animalcule, protozoan is surely less charming.

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rabitt
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#7 Post by rabitt » Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:56 pm

Excellent video & photos, another critter for me to pursue.

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rnabholz
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#8 Post by rnabholz » Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:30 pm

More beautiful images and information Charles. Thanks for posting.

Rod

JimT
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#9 Post by JimT » Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:18 pm

c-Krebs, very nice but two questions; how does one set up a flash unit for a compound scope and when do we see new images?

I'm not complaining but your obvious skill makes us all want more :)

JimT

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exmarine
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#10 Post by exmarine » Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:43 pm

Please see my reply in Campanella umbellaria. Enough said.
Thank you :shock:
Best regards
exmarine :x

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uses Watson Stereo 1960 ish.

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gekko
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Re: Floscularia ringens

#11 Post by gekko » Sun Aug 28, 2016 8:10 pm

Thank you for showing us such wonderful images.

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