Litonotus lamella ?

[thomas.schwarz]

BH2 BHS 20x and 40x SPlan DIC with UCD, GH4 4K

You like? Any tips for better focus/ deeper field of focus?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGSp5PoYFq4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2qIwMB ... e=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xlVX66Gnc

I am starting to think this not a Litonotus, but rather a new species from "Das Leben im Wasser Tropfen" page 314 Stichotricha secunda...?

[Bruce Taylor]

Nice, clear video! Yes, it's Litonotus (lanceolate cell, 2 macronuclear nodules, subterminal contractile vacuole, ciliary rows not converging at anterior and posterior). L. lamella is possible, but L. crystallinus is a contender (the upper surface of the cell seems to be distinctly ribbed), and there might be other similar species I'm unaware of. I wouldn't identify to species without info. on size, a good view of the distribution of extrusomes, a good count of kineties, etc.

Stichotricha is a very different critter! As introductory field guides go, Das Leben im Wassertropfen isn't bad, but it features only a small number of ciliate species. That's the problem with almost any field guide, unfortunately. To be useful, and avoid swamping readers with data, they can show only a fraction of known species. This gives users a skewed view of the real diversity in their water. It is estimated that about 4,500 morphospecies of ciliate have been described. Foissner calculates that the real number of ciliate species is between 27,000 and 40,000! For obvious reasons, field guides that focus on species-level identification (as if ciliates were birds ), are always going to misrepresent the diversity.

[thomas.schwarz]

Wow awesome info.... so i would like to familiarize myself with this language

distribution of extrusomes, a good count of kineties, etc.

A quick internet search implies that extrusomes are ejectable membrane-bound organelle. But what are keneties?

Or better yet, rather than feeding me fish, can you refer me to a fishing rod? For example how did you learn about these microbe charateristics and respective terms?

And thanks Bruce!! I do love biology....

[Bruce Taylor]

A quick internet search implies that extrusomes are ejectable membrane-bound organelle. But what are keneties?

Kineties are longitudinal rows of somatic cilia or cirri. The number and distribution of these rows can be a useful feature for identification of ciliates. Observing the kineties on the upper surface of the cell can be a quick way to differentiate Litonotus from the similar-looking Amphileptus. The extrusomes of Litonotus and certain related ciliates contain toxins which are used to stun prey before it is consumed.

Or better yet, rather than feeding me fish, can you refer me to a fishing rod?

For ciliates, a good place to start would be the 3rd edition of The Ciliated Protozoa, by the late Denis Lynn: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/ ... 020-8239-9 The book contains a very helpful glossary of terms, and the taxonomy is reasonably up-to-date (though there have been some changes, in the decade since it appeared). You might also dip into some of the many monographs by the great Wilhelm Foissner (now available directly from his website): http://www.wfoissner.at/publications.htm Or some of the superb taxonomic work being done in China: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/ ... -13-5901-9

A number of years ago, I scanned the 4 volumes of Alfred Kahl's revision of the ciliates, Wimpertiere oder Ciliata. The taxonomy is very outdated, but it is still a tremendously useful series. I've posted copies to the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/search.php?query=alfred%20kahl

There are lots of other books and thousands of articles, but I'm afraid a full bibliography of ciliate resources would take a long time!