micro*scope - version 6.0

Portrait of the stichotrichine ciliate, Chaetospira remex (Hudson,1875; Kahl,1932). Slightly squashed. This species occupies a long, sometimes branched tubular lorica into which it intermittently retracts. The lorica is attached to the substratum. C. muelleri has a flask-shaped lorica. The cell body is slender,elongate and very contractile. The corkscrew shaped anterior bears a prominent adoral zone of membranelles along the peristome (seen well here). The somatic ciliature is reduced to right and left marginal and two ventral files of short cirri which spiral down the body. The left marginal and one of the ventral cirral files are seen here.The macronucleus is bipartite (not visible in this image). the contractile vacuole is in mid-body between the two macronuclei. Feeds mainly on bacteria, flagellates and diatoms. Collected from a freshwater pond near Boise, Idah May 2004. DIC optics. This image was taken by William Bourland. He now uses a Zeiss Axioskop 2 with Spot Insight and Spot Flex CCD cameras (Diagnostic Instruments). Image copyright: William Bourland, image used under license to MBL (micro*scope).

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Chaetospira remex

From the collection Freshwater and Terrestrial Microbes of Idaho (USA) and Elsewhere

Description of Chaetospira remex: Body elongated, very contractile; length 150-560 um when extended; housed in tube-like smooth lorica (300-1,250 um long), more or less incrusted with detritus; with long flexible anterior proboscis more than one-quarter of body length when extended; somatic ciliation spirally in 3 rows (very similar to the genus Stichotricha but this is characterized by a comparatively short proboscis of less than one-quarter the length of the body); adoral zone of membranelles very elongated, running along the proboscis; 2 macronuclei; contractile vacuole located in the posterior vicinity of the buccal area. Measurements; Length of cell 175 um; length of lorica 315 um. Hartmut Bick; Ciliated protozoa: An illustrated guide to the species used as biological indicators in freshwater biology. Geneva:World Health Organization. :1-195, 1972.