Another strange one I need an ID on.

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D0c
Posts: 267
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:13 pm
Location: England

Another strange one I need an ID on.

#1 Post by D0c » Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:14 pm

Another strange one I have found and cannot find anything that looks similar.

It's about 150µm in length and was the only one I found.

Critter was found in the same sample as I found the trachelophyllid the other day so a mixture of soil/moss/pond water

Video 1 (200X) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/154534235 ... datetaken/
Video 2 (400X) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/154534235 ... datetaken/
Leitz SM-Lux

Bruce Taylor
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: Another strange one I need an ID on.

#2 Post by Bruce Taylor » Wed Apr 07, 2021 4:21 pm

Looks like Homalozoon vermiculare. :)

D0c
Posts: 267
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:13 pm
Location: England

Re: Another strange one I need an ID on.

#3 Post by D0c » Wed Apr 07, 2021 5:57 pm

I did consider Homalozoon vermiculare but all the images I've seen have a large black mass in the anterior region. my specimen didn't have this and appeared fatter then the samples I've looked at. I have have just read that H. vermiculare carries some toxicysts at his front, which are fired on the prey. Maybe my critter has just eaten and that is why there are no toxicysts visible and it appears fatter.

Anyway a new one for me so thanks Bruce for helping with ID.
Leitz SM-Lux

Bruce Taylor
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: Another strange one I need an ID on.

#4 Post by Bruce Taylor » Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:17 pm

Your creature does have toxicysts...a small fan of them right at the anterior, where it should be. Those, in combination with the long row of contractile vacuoles, were the main reason I settled on Homalozoon (a creature I've observed frequently, over the years). In my experience, the size of the cytopharyngeal mass can be somewhat variable, so I wasn't too bothered by the fact it is not very conspicuous in your critter (I think a small one is present, but obscured by other cytoplasmic matter). The "fatness" of Homalozoon is also variable...some are broad and baggy, others are quite sleek, resembling Spirostomum.

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