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Corporales, La Rioja, Spain
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**En las aguas dulces cargadas de restos orgnicos bulle una intensa actividad en la que los protozoos ciliados adquieren un especial protagonismo por encontrar un medio ptimo para su desarrollo. Spirostomum intermedium, es uno de ellos y al igual que muchos ciliados, se alimenta de bacterias que son barridas hacia su citostoma con una fila de cilios fusionados especializados. Una de las caractersticas ms notables de Spirostomum es la forma en que puede contraerse. El organismo puede retraer su cuerpo a 1 / 4 de su longitud en un tiempo de 6-8 milisegundos, que es la ms rpida contraccin conocida en cualquier clula viva. La fotografa fue tomada con una cmara digital Olympus E-500 montada sobre un microscopio Leica DM 2000 utilizando un dispositivo de contraste de interferencia con un objetivo de x40. Para congelar el movimiento se utiliz el propio flash de la cmara.
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Anigsteinia clarissima is a heterotrich ciliate found in the intertidal zone. Bright field. This ciliate was isolated from f Silver Beach, Qingdao (3555N, 12012E), China, on May 7, 2012. Image taken by Ying Yan.
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Luanco, Principado de Asturias, Espaa
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Sant Marti Sarroca, Catalonia, Spain
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Ribadelago de Franco, Castille and Leon, Spain
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Spirostomum (spire-owe-stow-mum) is a genus of heterotrich ciliates, and some species in this genus may extend up to 1 mm in length. With a line of membranelles leading from the anterior of the cell to the cytostome which is located about half way down the cell. Contractile. Contractile vacuole at posterior end of cell. In habitats with low oxygen. Phase contrast.
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Spirostomum (spire-owe-stow-mum) is a genus of heterotrich ciliates, and some species in this genus may extend up to 1 mm in length. With a line of membranelles leading from the anterior of the cell to the cytostome which is located about half way down the cell. Contractile. The dark central structure is the macronucleus Contractile vacuole at posterior end of cell. In habitats with low oxygen. Phase contrast.
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Spirostomum (spire-owe-stow-mum) is a genus of heterotrich ciliates, and some species in this genus may extend up to 1 mm in length. With a line of membranelles leading from the anterior of the cell to the cytostome which is located about half way down the cell. Contractile. The dark central structure is the macronucleus Contractile vacuole at posterior end of cell. In habitats with low oxygen. Phase contrast.
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Description: The image shows a specimen of almost 500 µm length, with itâs typical, long tail. The compact, ovoid macronucleus measures app. 25x8 µm. The peristome in this specimen has a ratio of 1:5 with the bodylength. The organism is highly contractile (see other pictures of collection). It can easily be distinguished from the other, more frequently found species of the genus by itâs long tail (caudatum). Spir. minus, whose shape may sometimes look similar has a very different, moniliform macronucleus. Spir. teres on the other hand, whose macronucleus resembles the one of Spir. caudatum has a more cylindrical, cigar-like shape.
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Description: Contracted state of the heterotrich ciliate. The organism now measures little more than 200 µm. The ciliary rows are visible in tight spirals. The compact, ovoid macronucleus can be seen in the centre of the specimen. Compare to portrait.
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Description: Partial view of anterior end of the organism showing a better view of the oral region and the ovoid, compact macronucleus. Length of specimen 500 µm. Modified phase contrast.
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Portrait of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum, is among the largest protists (this individual is approximately 975 microns long). The body shape is a vermiform cylinder, rounded anteriorly and truncate posteriorly. Colorless or brownish. Highly contractile. Uniform longitudinal somatic kineties. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome. Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome. The macronucleus is long and moniliform. The contractile vacuole is posterior with a long dorsal collecting canal. Often found in sapropelic habitats. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. Phase contrast illumination.
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Ventral view of peristome and cytostome of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum, is among the largest protists. The body shape is a vermiform cylinder, rounded anteriorly and truncate posteriorly. Colorless to brownish. Highly contractile. Uniform longitudinal somatic kineties. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome (seen here). Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome (both AZM and UM seen here). The macronucleus is long and moniliform. . Often found in sapropelic habitats. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.
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Detail of the cytostome of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome. Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome (both AZM and UM seen here). In this contracted individual the somatic kineties appear to spiral around the long axis of the body. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.
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Portrait of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum, is among the largest protists (this individual is approximately 875 microns long). The body shape is a vermiform cylinder, rounded anteriorly and truncate posteriorly. Colorless to brownish. Highly contractile. Uniform longitudinal somatic kineties. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the relative length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome. Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome. The macronucleus is long and moniliform. The contractile vacuole is posterior with a long dorsal collecting canal. Often found in sapropelic habitats. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.
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This image is of an uncompressed cell. The posterior parts of the cell remains loosely attached to the debris at the posterior end (contractile vacuole is the slightly grey region to the left). The anterior end twists and sweeps through the water - a bit like Dileptus.
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One of the largest species of ciliates, more than 1 millimeter long. The cells are contractile, and with a posterior contractile vacuole. The smaller cells are Astasia - included as food.
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Portrait of Spirostomum minus, a large heterotrich ciliate. Synonymous with S. intermedium. S. minus is very similar in overall appearance to S. ambiguum but is shorter in length (300-800 microns; this individual is 537 microns long). S. ambiguum is commonly 1000-4000 microns long. Also the peristome occupies about 50% of the body length in S. minus and about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum. The body is vermiform, cylindrical and highly contractile. Somatic kineties are longitudinal and uniform. The long adoral zone of membranelles is seen along the ventral surface. The macronucleus (seen well here) is moniliform in both. There is a posterior contractile vacuole with a long dorsal collecting canal. From organically enriched standing fresh water near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.
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Portrait of Spirostomum teres, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. teres differs from the similar S. ambiguum and S. minus in that it is smaller (usually 150-600 microns long; this individual is 424 microns long) and has an ellipsoid macronucleus (seen here in midbody). Otherwise, the overall appearance is quite similar. The body is vermiform and cylindrical, rounded anteriorly and truncate posteriorly. The somatic kineties are longitudinal and uniform. There is an adoral zone of membranelles along the left margin of the peristome. Although often described as lacking an undulating membrane, an inconspicuous UM is demonstrated by protargol staining (not seen here). The peristome occupies about 50% of the body length. A posterior contractile vacuole has a long dorsal collecting canal. From organically enriched stagnant fresh water near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.