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Vorticella

Vorticella spp

Photo by CynthiaMHori
Published on Project Noah
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40.9465, -111.936

Field Notes

Description:

Phyllum Ciliophora. Vorticella are such a fun species to find . They are single celled , cup shaped organisms that live on a stalk that is attached to other substrate. This group was attached to the exoskeleton of an aquatic bug of some sort. The cup on top of the cell is surrounded by cilia that are in constant motion creating a great current for the little beasts. They bounce up and down on the stalk as they feed and exist.
There are over 100 species of Voticella.

Habitat:

freshwater species

Notes:

my middle schoolers were learning about the Kingdoms of living organisms so its is always a great time to introduce microscope work. I used my cell phone to take the picture. Magnification was 100x

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
DanielePralong
Congratulations Cynthia, we love seeing microscopic organisms and these fascinating protozoans are our Spotting of the Day! "Something different today with these microscopic ciliate protozoans in the genus Vorticella as our Spotting of the Day! These single cell, cup-shaped organisms live on a stalk that is attached to substrates such as aquatic plants, surface scum or aquatic animals. They eat bacteria and small protozoans and are found in fresh or salt water. Vorticella was first described in the 17th century by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch pioneer in the fields of microscopy and microbiology". Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/photos/pb.10150120463815603.-2207520000.1493936939./10158659760100603/?type=3&theater Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/860256489335918592

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Microscopic Life
Photographed
PublishedMay 2, 2017

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