Huge amoeba

[Wes]

Finally I found a huge amoeba that was visible with the naked eye. Must have randomly picked it up while mounting a patch of algae with worms (which turned out far less exciting than the amoeba). I think this is Amoeba proteus but feel free to correct me if you suspect otherwise.



Video is sped up 4x. Objective is Plan 16/0.35 using DIC.

[Greg Howald]

Looks big enough to put in an omelet. good job!

[Javier]

Nice find, Wes, and brilliant footage!

[FatBassPlayer]

That's impressive, & very cool video!

[Wes]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I have now attempted to hunt the amoebas one by one and try to establish amoeba cultures. Lets how it goes..

[Microscopy_is_fun]

Video is sped up 4x. Objective is Plan 16/0.35 using DIC.

Awesome video! I always wonder, how such slow and squishy beings can catch any food at all.

[SuiGenerisBrewing]

Video is sped up 4x. Objective is Plan 16/0.35 using DIC.

Awesome video! I always wonder, how such slow and squishy beings can catch any food at all.

They eat a lot of bacteria, many of which are sessile. Not too hard to capture some food if your food doesn't move.

[DonSchaeffer]

Wow!

[Wes]

Awesome video! I always wonder, how such slow and squishy beings can catch any food at all.

Thanks. This particular species seems ok capturing all sorts of highly mobile organisms, things like Chilomonas, Chilodonela and even whole rotifers. They are so massive that they probably appear as normal part of the surrounding for the smaller organisms and what can you do when your surroundings elegantly encircle you, without any rush whatsoever. You become a prisoner in a food vacuole awaiting your doom. What a way to go!

Taking a closer look at the nuclear morphology of this amoeba (the population of which has expanded massively) I believe it may be Polychaos dubium.

[Javier]

Awesome video! I always wonder, how such slow and squishy beings can catch any food at all.

Thanks. This particular species seems ok capturing all sorts of highly mobile organisms, things like Chilomonas, Chilodonela and even whole rotifers. They are so massive that they probably appear as normal part of the surrounding for the smaller organisms and what can you do when your surroundings elegantly encircle you, without any rush whatsoever. You become a prisoner in a food vacuole awaiting your doom. What a way to go!

Taking a closer look at the nuclear morphology of this amoeba (the population of which has expanded massively) I believe it may be Polychaos dubium.

Yeah, there are some impressive videos on YT of huge amoebas capturing different ciliates like you describe. It's brutal!

[Microscopy_is_fun]

Yeah, there are some impressive videos on YT of huge amoebas capturing different ciliates like you describe. It's brutal!

I am more into botany, but sometimes I like to watch these microorganisms living in pond water etc. Unfortunately I rarely found amoeba. In which environment are they most likely to be found?

[Javier]

Yeah, there are some impressive videos on YT of huge amoebas capturing different ciliates like you describe. It's brutal!

I am more into botany, but sometimes I like to watch these microorganisms living in pond water etc. Unfortunately I rarely found amoeba. In which environment are they most likely to be found?

I have found them always in pond water, especially into decomposing organic matter.

[Wes]

Yeah, there are some impressive videos on YT of huge amoebas capturing different ciliates like you describe. It's brutal!

I am more into botany, but sometimes I like to watch these microorganisms living in pond water etc. Unfortunately I rarely found amoeba. In which environment are they most likely to be found?

Small amoeba are very common, you can find them in all sorts of environments ranging from soil to stale pond water. The large amoeba that I show in this thread I had not seen before and the general consensus is that they are not as common. This particular culture was started by placing a piece of floating pond scum (rich in Spirogyra and Oedigonium) in a 10 cm petri dish with about 30 ml of water. The amoeba only appeared 3 weeks after the sample was set and they are quite abundant now (I added a grain of boiled wheat which coincided with the boost in their population).

[Microscopy_is_fun]

Hi Wes, Javier,

thanks for you hints. That will help having a look at these interesting organisms when I start my next "microorganism-session".

[Javier]

Yeah, there are some impressive videos on YT of huge amoebas capturing different ciliates like you describe. It's brutal!

I am more into botany, but sometimes I like to watch these microorganisms living in pond water etc. Unfortunately I rarely found amoeba. In which environment are they most likely to be found?

Small amoeba are very common, you can find them in all sorts of environments ranging from soil to stale pond water. The large amoeba that I show in this thread I had not seen before and the general consensus is that they are not as common. This particular culture was started by placing a piece of floating pond scum (rich in Spirogyra and Oedigonium) in a 10 cm petri dish with about 30 ml of water. The amoeba only appeared 3 weeks after the sample was set and they are quite abundant now (I added a grain of boiled wheat which coincided with the boost in their population).

I agree. I have found tons of tiny Amoebas but only one big Amoeba, likely Amoeba Proteus. That one sample was from a puddle of river water with a lot of freshly cut grass on it.

[DonSchaeffer]

Great image. I would love to see a longer video.

[Rossf]

Fantastic footage Wes -the big amaebas are so exciting to watch-I like when they ooze through a cluster of debris for food like a ghost walking through a wall…