Possible Enchelyodon elegans

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D0c
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Possible Enchelyodon elegans

#1 Post by D0c » Sun Apr 04, 2021 3:21 pm

Looking at the Foissner and Berger book I think it's a Enchelyodon elegans. The shape and the oral bulge with long cilia is very similar indeed as well as the posterior CV. A bit unsure on the shape of the macronucleus so cannot use that for ID.

Video 1 (200X/400X) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/154534235 ... datetaken/
Leitz SM-Lux

Bruce Taylor
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Re: Possible Enchelyodon elegans

#2 Post by Bruce Taylor » Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:24 pm

It does resemble an Enchelyodon, and I would be fairly comfortable calling it that, except for the fact that it seems to have a surrounding layer, or sheath of transparent matter all around the outside of the cell. This could be an artifact of microscopy, or it could be something more interesting, which would put this creature in the family Trachelophyllidae, a group whose members have an outer layer of tiny, ornate scales which can look, in the light microscope, like a coating of mucus. Trachelophyllids can have a similar shape.

I'm not sure which Foissner & Berger book you're looking at....there are quite a few. :D One that shows a number of interesting Enchelyodon species as well as some very fascinating trachelophyllids is their Soil Ciliates of Namibia vols. I and II. See also Foissner's Terrestrial and semiterrestrial ciliates of Venezuela and Galapagos.

So, I have 2 questions. First, do you think this apparent layer is an imaging artifact, or could it be a feature of the cell? And second, what was the source of this sample?
possible layer of scales.JPG
possible layer of scales.JPG (45.12 KiB) Viewed 1675 times

D0c
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Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:13 pm
Location: England

Re: Possible Enchelyodon elegans

#3 Post by D0c » Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:51 pm

It is interesting you should comment on the transparent layer as when I was recording I thought it had a hyaline appearance around it, and even made a note of this in my notebook, I also found it very hard to focus on the edge of this specimen so it could be an imaging artifact, I don't really have the experience to say.

The specimen came from a sample of moss with some earth attached which was at the edge of a fresh water lake. From this sample I looked at 30 slides and I only found one specimen. The size was approx 250µm in length.

Hope this helps Bruce.
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Bruce Taylor
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Re: Possible Enchelyodon elegans

#4 Post by Bruce Taylor » Sun Apr 04, 2021 6:48 pm

So this is from a soil/moss sample. Soil and moss ciliates differ from pond ciliates, and researchers did not begin thorough explorations of their diversity until fairly recently (in works like the two I mentioned, above). Books that focus on pond and puddle ciliates, or wastewater ciliates, or planktonic ciliates, will omit many of the critters you're likely to find in this habitat (which often have unfamiliar names, like Diplites, Clavoplites, Bilamellophrya etc.).

It's interesting that you took note of a "hyaline" zone around your organism. That suggests to me that it's a real observation and not just an accident of imaging. So, my first suspicion would be that this is a trachelophyllid of some kind. It could also be Enchelyodon, though I think Enchelyodon elegans is not likely (that species doesn't seem to come up in checklists of soil ciliates, and your specimen is bigger than the range given by Foissner et al., and Kahl).

Given the uncertainty, I would call it "haptorid soil ciliate", and look for more specimens to examine.

D0c
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Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:13 pm
Location: England

Re: Possible Enchelyodon elegans

#5 Post by D0c » Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:29 pm

Thanks Bruce.

I'm going back to the same place next week and get some more samples. The sample did contain pond water as well as moss and some earth, the moss was growing on the water side of the bank so contained all three moss, earth, and water. The one above is inside my 5 gallon protist jar now so I doubt if I will ever find it again :D
Leitz SM-Lux

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