Скачать или смотреть Stylonychia sp. under microscope

X10 objective.

I often see Euplotes in my water samples, but this is the only time I've been certain that I'm seeing another family of spirotrichochs.

Apparently those hopping movements are characteristic of the Stylonychia genus.

As with other Hypotrichs, Stylonychia have cilia grouped into membranelles alongside the mouth and cirri over the body.

Cirri are Tufts of cilia that form limb-like structures which, on the ventral surface can be used to crawl along on debris. Cilia are used for moving and gathering food.

Stylonychia usually have 3 caudal cirri (stiff bristles) at the posterior, whereas Euplotes have 4 or 5.

Domain: #Eukaryota ➡️ Clade: #Diaphoretickes ➡️ Supergroup: #SAR ➡️ Clade: #Alveolata ➡️ Phylum: #Ciliophora ➡️ Class: #Spirotrichea ➡️ Family: #Oxytrichidae ➡️ Genus: #Stylonychia (Ehrenberg, 1830)

#spirotrich #hypotrich #cirri #ciliates #cilia

Water sample from a local freshwater artificial lake/pond.