Two headed hydra..not to be confused with Hydra vulgaris

[Plasmid]

400x V̶o̶r̶t̶i̶c̶e̶l̶l̶a̶ Epistylis
Enjoy
Plasmid
https://youtu.be/eetYKuq--bI

[Greg Howald]

That's just really good. You don't actually see things like that very often. Thanks. Greg

[Plasmid]

Thank you Greg

[Bruce Taylor]

Nice! The stalk is branched and lacks a spasmoneme (the fibre that alllows a stalk to contract), so this is definitely not Vorticella, or any vorticellid. It is probably either Epistylis or Opercularia, but we don't see the zooid in a fully open condition so we can't identify this two-headed fellow below order: Sessilida.

[Plasmid]

Nice! The stalk is branched and lacks a spasmoneme (the fibre that alllows a stalk to contract), so this is definitely not Vorticella, or any vorticellid. It is probably either Epistylis or Opercularia, but we don't see the zooid in a fully open condition so we can't identify this two-headed fellow below order: Sessilida.

Learn something new everyday, thank you. I didn' realize they were parasitic just like Vorticella "9.4.2 Other ciliates
Several other unicellular parasitic ciliates including Trichodina, Tricodinella, Epistylis, Ichthyobodo, Apiosoma, Vorticella and Ambiphrya are common among wild and cultured tilapia, especially when the fishes are farmed at high stocking densities.

[Bruce Taylor]

"Parasitic" is such a harsh word. I prefer "epibiontic", "epizooic" or "ectocommensal". Peritrichs like Epistylis, Vorticella and Zoothamnium often attach to small crustaceans and other animals, but they do not make a meal of the animal itself, or penetrate its tissues. They are probably quite heavy and inconvenient to the host, and may also steal food, but mostly they're just sharing a habitat.

[Rapidray]

Microorganisms are just so cool. Thanks for sharing.