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Loxophyllum. Cell observed in sandy and muddy marine sediments in the vicinity of Broome, Western Australia in September 2003. This image was taken using phase contrast optics. Â Â This work was supported by the Australian Biological Resources Study.
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A somewhat contracted cell, extrusomes are evident as thin rods underlying the surface of the cell. Phase contrast microscopy.
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Portrait of Loxophyllum helus (Stokes, 1884, Penard, 1922) a rhabdophorine ciliate. The body is elongate and laterally compressed. The left side is sparsely ciliated and slightly domed the flat right side is more densely ciliated. Very flexible. Prominent trichocyst warts occur at intervals along the dorsal edge (seen well here). A narrow flattened band traversed by trichocysts runs along the entire ventral edge. The slit-like oral aperture is located on the anterior ventral edge. There is one posterior contractile vacuole. The macronucleus is bipartite flanking a small micronucleus. Preys on rotifers and other ciliates. Collected from freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho in June 2003. DIC optics.
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Portrait of Loxophyllum helus (Stokes, 1884, Penard, 1922) a rhabdophorine ciliate. The body is elongate and laterally compressed. The left side is sparsely ciliated and slightly domed the flat right side is more densely ciliated. Very flexible. Prominent trichocyst warts occur at intervals along the dorsal edge (seen well here). A narrow flattened band traversed by trichocysts runs along the entire ventral edge. The slit-like oral aperture is located on the anterior ventral edge. There is one posterior contractile vacuole. The macronucleus is bipartite flanking a small micronucleus. Preys on rotifers and other ciliates. Collected from freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho in June 2003. DIC optics.
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Portrait of Loxophyllyum, large pleurostomatid ciliate, which is highly laterally, compressed. Glides with ribbon-like movement over substrate. Oral region is slit-like and oriented to the right in this image. Wart-like aggregates of extrusomes are seen at intervals along the dorsal (left) surface. Macronucleus is multinodal in this species. Many species. This species, from standing fresh water near Boise, Idaho, has been preying on rotifers. Oblique illumination.
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Portrait of the pleurostomatid ciliate, Loxophyllyum meleagris (Mueller,1773) Dujardin, 1841. Glides with ribbon-like movement over substrate. Oral region is slit-like and oriented to the right in this image. Wart-like aggregates of extrusomes are seen at intervals along the dorsal (left) surface. Macronucleus is multinodal in this species. From standing temporary fresh water puddlenear Boise, Idaho. Phase contrast illumination.
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Detail view (dorsal surface) of the large pleurostomatid ciliate, Loxophyllum meleagris (Mueller,1773) Dujardin, 1841. The strongly laterally compressed cell is scimitar-shaped in outline. . The cell is slightly contractile and highly flexible. The rounded anterior end is curved dorsally. The posterior is bluntly tapered. The right side is more densely ciliated than the left. Somatic kineties are longitudinal. The dorsal edge bears characteristic nodular protrusions called extrusome warts (seen well here). The slit-like cytostome is located along the anteroventral edge. There is one posterior contractile vacuole which has a long collecting canal extending anteriorly along the dorsal edge of the cell. The macronucleus (part of which is seen well here) is moniliform. There are multiple inconspicuous micronuclei (not seen here). L.meleagris swims slowly, gliding gracefully over the substrate. L.meleagris feeds on other ciliates and even metazoans such as rotifers. Differentiated from the similar L. helus by its much larger size. Collected from a freshwater agricultural irrigation ditch near McCall, Idaho 9/21/03. DIC.
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Portrait (right side) of the large pleurostomatid ciliate, Loxophyllum meleagris (Mueller,1773) Dujardin, 1841. The strongly laterally compressed cell is scimitar-shaped in outline. . The cell is slightly contractile and highly flexible. The rounded anterior end is curved dorsally. The posterior is bluntly tapered. The right side is more densely ciliated than the left. Somatic kineties are longitudinal. The dorsal edge bears characteristic nodular protrusions called extrusome warts. The slit-like cytostome is located along the anteroventral edge. There is one posterior contractile vacuole which has a long collecting canal extending anteriorly along the dorsal edge of the cell. The macronucleus is moniliform. There are multiple inconspicuous micronuclei (not seen here). L.meleagris swims slowly, gliding gracefully over the substrate. L.meleagris feeds on other ciliates and even metazoans such as rotifers. Differentiated from the similar L. helus by its much larger size. Collected from a freshwater agricultural irrigation ditch near McCall, Idaho 9/21/03. DIC.
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This image of the anterior end shows the curved oral region with faintly visible extrusomes that are used to capture protists as food. The surface is folded along the lines of the kineties. The contractile vacuole, upper left, has a long feeding canal, and the macronucleus is in the form of a series of linked beads. Phase contrast.
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Interference contrast image of a single living cell. the warts on the oral face are distinctive.
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Infraciliature (left side) of Loxophyllum meleagris (Mueller,1773) Dujardin, 1841. The oral bulge (OB is bordered by one left perioral kinety (PK1) and two right perioral kineties (only PK2 visible here). The dorsal edge bears characteristic nodular protrusions called extrusome or trichocyst warts (TW). A row of unciliated kinetids is seen at the base of each trichocyst wart (UK)The slit-like cytostome is located in the center of the oral bulge. DK= dorsal brush kinetids. Collected from a freshwater canal in Boise,Idaho 10/27/08. Protargol.Brightfield.
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Litonotus (light-o-note-us) is one of the more commonly encountered predatory ciliates. Scyth-shaped, and flattened. The mouth is located on the convex curve of the anterior part of the body (upper right in the picture). The food is captured in part by the action of rod-shaped extrusomes which can be seen just inside the cell adjacent to the mouth. The large structure near the centre of the cell is the macronucleus. The light region towards the rear is the contractile vacuole. Cilia cover the body in sparse kineties. Phase contrast.
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Litonotus (light-o-note-us) is one of the more commonly encountered predatory ciliates. It is flattened, and glides along the substrate, exploring detritus with the anterior convex margin - which is where the mouth is located. There are extrusomes just internal to the margin of the cell, and these can be discharged to kill potential prey - usually other ciliates. Phase contrast.
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Litonotus (light-o-note-us) is one of the more commonly encountered predatory ciliates. It is flattened, and glides along the substrate, exploring detritus with the anterior convex margin - which is where the mouth is located. There are extrusomes just internal to the margin of the cell, and these can be discharged to kill potential prey - usually other ciliates. Phase contrast.
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Litonotus, predatory ciliate. Flattened with mouth located along convex outer edge of the front part of the cell. Numerous extrusomes lie under the mouth. With two large macronuclei located on either side of a smaller micronucleus., From Lake Donghu, China. Phase contrast micrograph.
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Right side view of Litonotus, a common pleurostomatid ciliate genus with many species. Oral aperture is slit-like and lined with extrusomes. Two round centrally located macronuclei. Posterior contractile vacuole. Parallel kineties on right surface (seen well in this image) distinguish this genus from the similar Amphileptus in which longitudinal kineties converge on each other anteriorly and posteriorly. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Oblique illumination
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Litonotus is a predatory ciliate. The mouth extends along the convex margin running from the middle to the front of the cell (at the top of the picture). It is equipped with organelles that are ejected from the cell and are used to immobilize and kill prey. The two dark structures near the middle of the cell are macronuclei.
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This Litonotus cell as been viewed from the side. The face that is applied to the substrate is ciliated. This face is usually called the right side of the cell because it lies to the right of the mouth. The mouth in this image extends from the anterior (to the right of the picture) to about half way down the ventral (or right) face of the cell. Numerous extrusomes abut onto the membrane of the mouth. There are two rounded macronuclear nodes in the pcture and two small micronuclei (1 o'clock relative to the right-hand nucleus and 10 o'clock relative to the left-hand nucleus). Phase contrast microscopy.
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Detail of the anterior (mouth) end of the cell. The mouth is drawn out along the flatened antero-lateral margin of the cell. Extrusomes lie under the membrane and these are used in food capture. Phase contrast microscopy.
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Optical section of the common pleurostomatid ciliate, Litonotus (Wresniowski 1870). Ccollected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. April 2005. DIC
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Found in a sample with Fucus taken from close to Tvarminne Zoological Station on April 3rd, 2012. Bruce Taylor tells us that this may be Litonotus cygnus, we'd be pleased with any feedback.
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Portrait of Litonotus cygnus (Mueller, 1773) Foissner, 1995, a pleurostomatid ciliate. Markedly extensile, this individual is contracted. The slit-like oral aperture on the convex surface extends along most of the length of the neck region. Extrusomes are visible at the base of the neck region on the ventral surface. Two round centrally located macronuclei. Posterior contractile vacuole. Parallel kineties on right surface distinguish this genus from the similar Amphileptus in which longitudinal kineties converge on each other anteriorly and posteriorly. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Phase contrast.