Ciliate news

Pelagostrombidium fallax feeds on planktonic algae and digests everything but the chloroplast (=’stolen chloroplast’ or ‘kleptoplast’). From the kleptoplasts (photosynthesis), the ciliate receives additional nutrients.

Paradileptus elephantinus is a huge ciliate that even ingests rotifers (small metazoans).

Lagynus elegans prefers the oxygen-depleted zones in a lake.

Coleps hirtus viridis is a ciliate commonly found in lakes and ponds that receives nutrients from its algal symbionts (photosynthesis). Here we see the characteristic cortical plates.

Bursaridium sp. is a ciliate living in the plankton of alpine lakes above the treeline. Compared to other planktonic ciliates it is a relatively large species (ca. 150 x 120 µm). Bursaridium sp. feeds on algae that provide UV sunscreen compounds (MAAs) to the ciliate.

Through chemical stimulation, the trichocysts (needle-shaped cell organelles) of Stokesia vernalis are extruded immediately.

The symbionts of Stokesia vernalis are uniquely arranged in several packages. The algae are able to synthesize UV sunscreen compounds (MAAs).

Uroleptus willii is a ciliate thriving in lake plankton that can also build a mucous house, the so-called lorica. In the video, we see how U. willii feeds on bacteria or other small unicellular eukaryotes with its densely arranged ciliary bundles located at the tapering anterior. Characteristic for the species is that it lives in […]