Drawing

Description:

Cercomonas longicauda Dujardin, 1841. Cercomonad cells which are about 10 microns long, spindle shaped and flexible. Two flagella insert subapically into a small subapical depression. The anterior flagellum is non-acronematic and about 2.5 times the cell length, and its most basal part adheres to the anterior part of the body. The acronematic posterior flagellum is about 3 times the cell length, adheres to the length of the cell and has a slow sinusoidal beat during swimming. The cell moves by gliding or swimming. Strands of cytoplasm are drawn out behind the cell during movement.