High drama on the slide

[Josephus Miller]

Examining a pond water slide with my AO 160 using the 43x objective, I observed this fellow:

still.png (429.46 KiB) Viewed 240 times

He was large and rather ponderous compared the the nimble ciliates that buzzed around him as he executed casual three-point turns. Graceful, nonetheless. His insides sparkled with green jewel-like objects. Chloroplasts, presumably. Yesterday's lunch?

Soon, however, he stopped cold. Why, I wondered? I pulled back to the 10x to see if any extraneous factors were at work. But no: he was alone in the field of view.

I kept my eye on him. As time passed, a clear space developed within him. It grew as I watched, and his tidy egg shape gradually distended, until...



What happened to this poor fellow? Was his race just run? Or was the weight of it all (and by that I mean the cover slip) just too much?


Also, anyone have any idea what he was? I'm a neophyte to microbe identification. Also, please forgive the poor quality pictures, all were taken afocally through the eyepiece, freehand.