Portrait of the marine spirotrich ciliate Protocruzia granulosa (Kahl,1932) de Faria, da Cunha & Pinto, 1922. The cell is elongate and laterally compressed. The anterior ends in a short rostrum that bends slightly to the left. The posterior is bluntly tapered. The short, subapical anterior periostome has a prominent dense zone of membranelles. The somatic kineties are longitudinal. The cell is highly contractile as seen in this image with an extended individual on the viewer's left and a contracted cell on the right. Large food vacuoles are visible in the individual on the right. Collected from a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise, Idaho May 2004. DIC optics.
Protocruzia (pro-toe-cruise-ee-a) A drop-shaped ciliate with a short Adoral Zone of Membranelles leading to the mouth. Conventional cilia over the rest of the body propel the cell through the water. Consumes bacteria. This genus has a special status in the ciliates because it has a distinctive organization of the its nuclei, and seems to be at the base of the spirotrichs. Phase contrast.
