Very large ciliate - Naked eye visible

[Javier]

Yet another find from the magic puddle I have been visiting. At first I thought it was Loxodes, but I can't tell. I think it might belong to the Karyorelictea class.

Anyway, it was very interesting to observe. It is an elegant dancer and features a wonderful color under dark field.

My wife, who every so often likes to observe what I find under the microscope, named it the blue whale. It was a challenge to follow it even a 100x and because of its size, I thought that I should be able to see it with the naked eye, and I wasn't mistaken. I made a rough hand held video of the blue whale swimming across the slide. I was surprised at how much of the shape of the ciliate I was able to see.

Video details:

Unaided eye slide footage - 100 x dark field. Amscope b 120 and iPhone 5s.

[Bruce Taylor]

Nice! I believe it is a tracheliid, possibly Apotrachelius (similar to the well-known species Trachelius ovum, but with a macronucleus made up of many small, scattered nodules.

[ScienceMatters]

What a big boy!! That’s a great find!

[Javier]

Thank you both, for the feedback and the great information.

Nice! I believe it is a tracheliid, possibly Apotrachelius (similar to the well-known species Trachelius ovum, but with a macronucleus made up of many small, scattered nodules.

Could you recommend me a book to start identifying protists in a systematic way? I have been through different articles and websites, but it has been a confusing path so far.

[Francisco]

Very very nice.

[MicroscopyUniverse]

Wow !!
It's amazing !!

Thanks for sharing

[Wes]

What a great find, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing more beasts from your magic puddle.

[Javier]

Many thanks guys for your feedback!