portrait

Description:

Late state of binary fission of Vorticella. The adoral membranelles are retracted and the new cell (the swarmer) starts to develop a collar of cilia for locomotion. The dots in the stalk are mitochondria, lying apon the spasmoneme, the "muscle" of the stalk. The mitochondria support relaxation after contraction of the stalk via spasmoneme. Sample from a pond on the island of Hiddensee (Baltic Sea, Germany). This image was taken using Zeiss Universal with Olympus C7070 CCD camera.