Peritrichia

Vaginicola (vadge-in-ick-cola) tincta, two individuals in their lorica which has a flat bottom and no stalk. This specimen was collected in a pond near Konstanz, Germany. Differential interference contrast.

Originally described by Ehrenberg under the name Vaginicola tinctus.

Portrait of the peritrich ciliate, Cyclodonta bipartita (Stokes, 1885) Matthes, 1958. Usually found as an epibiont of freshwater copepods. The cells are contained in a vase-shaped transparent lorica that has fine longitudinal striations. The lorica has a short, stout noncontractile stalk. The cell is attached to the posterior portion of the lorica by a series of membranes and does not protrude from the lorica. The cell body is cylindrical in cross section, rounded posteriorly and transversely truncate anteriorly. The cell surface has fine transverse striations. The macronucleus is ellipsoid. There is a single contractile vacuole. Found on the surface of a cyclopoid copepod collected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho March 2005. DIC 

Portrait of the peritrich ciliate, Cyclodonta bipartita (Stokes, 1885) Matthes, 1958. Usually found as an epibiont of freshwater copepods. The cells are contained in a vase-shaped transparent lorica that has fine longitudinal striations. The lorica has a short, stout noncontractile stalk. The cell is attached to the posterior portion of the lorica by a series of membranes and does not protrude from the lorica. The cell body is cylindrical in cross section, rounded posteriorly and transversely truncate anteriorly. The cell surface has fine transverse striations. The macronucleus is ellipsoid. There is a single contractile vacuole. Found on the surface of a cyclopoid copepod collected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho March 2005. DIC

Portrait of the peritrich ciliate, Cyclodonta bipartita (Stokes, 1885) Matthes, 1958. Usually found as an epibiont of freshwater copepods. The cells are contained in a vase-shaped transparent lorica that has fine longitudinal striations. The lorica has a short, stout, noncontractile stalk. The cell is attached to the posterior portion of the lorica by a series of membranes and does not protrude from the lorica. The cell body is cylindrical in cross section, rounded posteriorly and transversely truncate anteriorly. The cell surface has fine transverse striations. The macronucleus is ellipsoid. There is a single contractile vacuole. Found on the surface of a cyclopoid copepod collected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho March 2005. DIC 

A colonial peritrich ciliate, Carchesium. Similar to Zoothamnium but Carchesium is distinguished by zooids with discontinuous myonemes allowing individuals of the branched colony to contract independently. However, the entire colony may contract simultaneously. The stalk of Carchesium contracts in a spiral configuration unlike Zoothamnium and Pseudocarchesium whose stalks are described as contracting in a zig-zag fashion. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Brightfield.

Carchesium a colonial peritrich similar to Zoothamnium but Carchesium is distinguished by zooids with discontinuous myonemes allowing individuals of the branched colony to contract independently. However, as seen in this image, the entire colony may contract simultaneously. The stalk of Carchesium contracts in a spiral configuration, seen in this image, unlike Zoothamnium and Pseudocarchesium whose stalks are described as contracting in a zig-zag fashion. Pseudocarchesium also has discontinuous myonemes. From a freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Brightfield.

This peritrich is one of a number of genera that occurs in colonies. It is distinguishable from Zoothamnium in that the whole colony does not contract together when a single cell is stimulated. feeds on bacteria. Bright field illumination.

Carchesium polypinum.

Group portrait of the gregarious but non-colonial peritrich ciliate, Pseudovorticella monilata (Tatem, 1870) Foissner and Sciffmann, 1975, all in contracted state (anterior apical view). Stalks are not visible here. The prominent pellicular blebs consist of paraglycogen, a carbohydrate storage product. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Differential interference contrast.

Group portrait of the gregarious but non-colonial peritrich ciliate, Pseudovorticella monilata (Tatem, 1870) Foissner and Sciffmann, 1975. Some individuals have separated from their contractile stalks. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Differential interference contrast.(Tatem, 1870) Foissner and Sciffmann, 1975

Portrait of the peritrich ciliate, Pseudovorticella monilata (Tatem, 1870) Foissner and Sciffmann, 1975. Designated as Vorticella monilata in many compendia, Foissner assigns this organism as the type species for the genus Pseudovorticella. Pseudovorticella is distinguished from Vorticella by silver staining which reveals a lattice-like silver line system in the former and circumferential lines without vertical connections in the latter. Pseudovorticella also has two contractile vacuoles (only one of which is seen here). The species is distinguished by circumferential rows of prominent pellicular blebs consisting of paraglycogen, a carbohydrate storage product. The macronucleus is J-shaped, lying in the long axis of the cell. The stalk consisting of a sheathed myonemes is seen here. Feeds on bacteria. From freshwater pond near Boise, Idaho. Differential interference contrast.

Pellicular detail of Pseudovorticella monilata (Tatem, 1870) Foissner and Sciffmann, 1975. The species is distinguished by circumferential rows of prominent pellicular blebs seen well in this image. They consist of paraglycogen, a carbohydrate storage product. DIC.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. This cavity ends at the cytostome where food is packaged into food vacuoles . If the cells become unhappy, they produce a temporary wreath of basal cilia (trochal cilia), break away from their stalk and use these to swim. Daughter cells are produced near the base of the parental cells and have the trochal cilia so that they can swim around when they break from at the end of division. The stalk, contains a contractile filament, and when this contracts it coils up a bit like a spring. Phase contrast.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. This cavity ends at the cytostome where food is packaged into food vacuoles and can be seen at the top of this cell, as can many food vacuoles. If the cells become unhappy, they produce a temporary wreath of basal cilia (trochal cilia), break away from their stalk and use these to swim. This cell has the trochal cilia. Daughter cells are produced near the base of the parental cells and have the trochal cilia so that they can swim around when they break from at the end of division. Most peritrichs have a large curving macronucleus, and this is also evident towards the top of the cell. The stalk, not evident here, contains a contractile filament, and when this contracts it coils up a bit like a spring. Differential interference contrast.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. This image was taken with a long exposure and illustrates the currents created by the action of the feeding cilia of a single cell. Modified dark ground, long exposure.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. This cavity ends at the cytostome where food is packaged into food vacuoles. If the cells become unhappy, they produce a temporary wreath of basal cilia (trochal cilia), break away from their stalk and use these to swim. Daughter cells, like the one shown here, are produced near the base of the parental cells and have the trochal cilia so that they can swim around when they break from at the end of division. The stalk contains a contractile filament, and when this contracts it coils up a bit like a spring. Differential interference contrast.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. This cavity ends at the cytostome where food is packaged into food vacuoles. If the cells become unhappy, they produce a temporary wreath of basal cilia (trochal cilia), break away from their stalk and use these to swim. Daughter cells are produced near the base of the parental cells and have the trochal cilia so that they can swim around when they break from at the end of division. The stalk contains a contractile filament, and when this contracts it coils up a bit like a spring. Differential interference contrast.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. The stalk contains a contractile filament, and when this contracts it coils up a bit like a spring. Phase contrast.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. The stalk contains a contractile filament, and when this contracts it coils up a bit like a spring. These cells attached to the outside of a Nostoc colony. Bright field, closed condenser iris.

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. The stalk contains a contractile filament, and when this contracts it coils up a bit like a spring. This species with endosymbiotic algae. Phase contrast.