Actinosphaerium dividing

[Radazz]

Olympus IX70 40x HMC
5x speed
I tried to stay with her all the way through, but camera battery died.

Division? Or conjugation?
Interesting, anyway
Radazz

[75RR]

Great catch & video!

[Radazz]

Thanks 75,

[actinophrys]

This looks like Actinosphaerium's little cousin Actinophrys. They don't conjugate; they actually have an odd sexual process where one divides within a cyst and then fuses back together again, called autogamy, shuffling genes without the reproduction part. But they do often capture food as small groups, where two or more cells will fuse together to produce a common food vacuole. It looks like you've caught this kind of joint feeding.

[Radazz]

This looks like Actinosphaerium's little cousin Actinophrys. They don't conjugate; they actually have an odd sexual process where one divides within a cyst and then fuses back together again, called autogamy, shuffling genes without the reproduction part. But they do often capture food as small groups, where two or more cells will fuse together to produce a common food vacuole. It looks like you've caught this kind of joint feeding.

Thanks! I stink at identifying these, and shouldn’t even try,
Radazz