portrait

Description:

Portrait of Platyophrya sphagni, a colpodid ciliate. Cells are flask shaped with an indistinct subapical oral aperture. The cells are very flexible and squirm about rather slowly along the substratum. When swimming they tend to rotate around their long axis. The right lateral surface is more densely ciliated than the left (best seen anteriorly here). The cytoplasm contains both large ingested algae and smaller symbiotic zoochlorellae which distinguish this species from other members of the genus. The central macronucleus and micronucleus are seen in this image. Many small extrusomes are also seen in this image. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.