Pompholyxophrys, another scaly amoeba

[tlansing]

I show a photograph of the amoeba Pompholyxophrys. This interesting amoeba, which I had never seen before, is related to the common Nuclearia. As you can see, the amoeba is covered with siliceous round structures called perles. Delicate filiopoda extend through the perles to capture prey, and the amoeba actively moves about. Pompholyxophrys feeds on algae, and I imagine the red color of the cell body comes from the digested algae.

Pompholyxophrys-2-1.JPG (67.25 KiB) Viewed 612 times

[WWWW]

Wow, very nice image with this beautiful amoeba !

[macnmotion]

Very nice image of something I've never seen.

[tlansing]

Thanks for the nice comments!

This one came from my favorite place to collect and I have seen more unique and unusual critters from this source than any other. Never disappoints!

[Martin Parnham]

Lovely image, I wonder how the perles are made, what holds them together, what are the advantages of this protection system - many questions - must get busy on the net.

Martin