MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I believe this little fellow has a symbiotic relationship with algae.
I’m quite pleased with the picture considering he really didn’t want to be photographed.

Symbiotic by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/144618088@N07/]

This is very good!!...

BillT

A nice specimen. I have seen ones like that in a sample I took some months ago. Interesting how a animal can be full of chloroplasts. What makes you think it has a symbiotic with that algae?

coominya wrote:Interesting how a animal can be full of chloroplasts. What makes you think it has a symbiotic with that algae?

It's not an animal...it's a ciliate!

"Green" ciliates like Paramecium bursaria do not have any functioning chloroplasts of their own, but have a symbiotic relationship with a special strain of green algae (a variety of the common Chlorella). These algae live and reproduce in the larger cell's safe and hospitable cytoplasm. The Paramecium is capable of swimming toward the light, to ensure that its little passengers receive what they need to perform photosynthesis. In return, the Chlorellae provide their host organism with organic sugars and other tasty products of photosynthesis.

This kind of endosymbiosis is very common among ciliates. It is especially useful in low-nutrient waters, such as bog lakes, which don't have enough food (bacteria and other prey organisms) to sustain large populations of ciliates. In sphagnum-rich water, it's not unusual for the majority of ciliate species to contain zoochlorellae.

Thank you for that comprehensive reply Bruce.
I'm new to this whole subject so I'm never quite sure that my identification is correct. I have seen these or similar on the internet, so was fairly sure of my ground in this case.
The sample was taken from a canal in Wolverhampton and left to mature in a bucket for a few weeks. It's difficult to find time to continually collect water samples but I find that the contents of any catch almost evolve over time as different species become dominant. I had not seen any of this type when the sample was new but they became numerous on about the 4th week.
A fascinating study.

Mike

I have seen these or similar on the internet, so was fairly sure of my ground in this case.

:) Do read the article in the link.

http://www.itcamefromthepond.com/2015/0 ... -organism/

75RR wrote:

I have seen these or similar on the internet, so was fairly sure of my ground in this case.

Do read the article in the link.

http://www.itcamefromthepond.com/2015/0 ... -organism/

True, you can't believe everything you read on the internet but one of the many things I've learned from this subject is that everybody makes mistakes.
I believe there are very few deliberately misleading articles, however, if an expert claims xyz, very few have the knowledge to challenge them. As pointed out in the article you linked to, people tend to believe these "facts" and it can spread like wildire.

Congrats, waterman, on a wonderful microscopy protist encounter, and a stunningly beautiful image capture! I love these green colors. Yes, yes symbiotic interactions are terrific microscopy experiences. BTW, I seem to encounter more and more current academic texts where the 'old term' protozoa is back in fashion...I like this trend..the professors always note they are using the term: protozoa' loosely...and not as a senso stricto term. Animacules, infussoria, protozoa..protists..your posting of this image is a treat for me. Charlie guevara

Thank you Charlie. So good to get positive feedback when starting out.

Hi Waterman,

I think you photo ranks up there with the best...

BillT

great shot indeed - i've also seen these in my own samples - i noticed they appear to have two 'modes' of behavior; sometimes zipping around, and other times remaining still for quite a while with their insides swirling around in circular motion, this is the best time to get images i think.


They also seemed to respond well to the GUF method - which is what i did (posted elsewhere in the forum)


Congrats on a nice image Waterman.

billbillt wrote:Hi Waterman,

I think you photo ranks up there with the best...

BillT

Praise indeed. I'm only a beginner and this sort of encouragement really helps. I'll try not to let it go to my head though.

Aenima wrote:great shot indeed - i've also seen these in my own samples - i noticed they appear to have two 'modes' of behavior; sometimes zipping around, and other times remaining still for quite a while with their insides swirling around in circular motion, this is the best time to get images i think.


They also seemed to respond well to the GUF method - which is what i did (posted elsewhere in the forum)


Congrats on a nice image Waterman.

Thank you. for the kind remark. I had been chasing him around for a while to get this picture, but he finally stopped long enough for me to get a few images that I could stack together.