portrait

Description:

Distigma (die-stig-ma), heterotrophic euglenid flagellate. There are two flagella which are attached to the cell in a flagellar pocket which is an invagination that leads to the front of the cell by a tube called the flagellar canal. The light disc near the front is the contractile vacuole which is located alongside the flagellar pocket which cannot be seen in this image. One flagellum is long, the other short. The cytoplasm has large amounts of paramylon granules. The cell can squirm (is metabolic). Phase contrast.