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Ciliate and diatoms
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 4:46 pm
by Pm turk
Recently I noticed a ciliate that appeared to have swallowed a diatom, is this possible? I thought they are tiny bits of food like phytoplankton. It was quite a large ciliate so it could accommodate the diatom easily.
Re: Ciliate and diatoms
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 6:15 pm
by daruosha
Post us some pictures. Its a good practice to take pictures (even with your phone) once you found something interesting
Re: Ciliate and diatoms
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 5:02 pm
by Plasmid
Yes it is, Chilodonella's are known to be found with a belly full of diatoms, I encountered one with 7 whole diatoms and 2 partially digested inside of it. The diatoms will remain active inside of it for a while. After finding one with a belly full of diatoms, I added a drop of 70% alcohol to the corner of the slide cover which diluted with the sample, shortly after the Chilodonella lysed and the diatoms started gliding on the water unaffected.