Spirostomidae

Spirostomum (spire-owe-stow-mum) is a genus of heterotrich ciliates, and some species in this genus may extend up to 1 mm in length. With a line of membranelles leading from the anterior of the cell to the cytostome which is located about half way down the cell. Contractile. Contractile vacuole at posterior end of cell. In habitats with low oxygen. Phase contrast.

Portrait of the large marine heterotrich ciliate, Spirostomum loxodes (Stokes,1885). The anterior end of the elongate cell is curved over the peristome in a short pointed beak or rostrum similar in shape to members of the genus Loxodes. The longitudinal somatic kineties are uniform. There is a well-developed adoral zone of membranelles along the left margin of the peristome. The peristome occupies approximately 1/3 of the cell length. The macronucleus is moniliform. There is a posterior terminal contractile vacuole that has a long collecting canal extending anteriorly along the dorsal side. Collected from a commercial saltwater aquarium in Boise, Idaho. Phase contrast.

Corporales, La Rioja, Spain

Anigsteinia clarissima is a heterotrich ciliate found in the intertidal zone. Bright field. This ciliate was isolated from f Silver Beach, Qingdao (3555N, 12012E), China, on May 7, 2012. Image taken by Ying Yan.

Los Cotos, Madrid, Spain

Villoslada de Cameros, La Rioja, Spain

Luanco, Asturias, Spain

Longitude (deg): -1.2. Latitude (deg): 51.4. Longitude (deg/min): 1° 10' W. Latitude (deg/min): 51° 20' N. Vice county name: Berks. Vice county no.: 22. Country: England. Identified by: Malcolm Storey. Category: microscope photograph. Image scaling: magnified. Photographic equipment used: Pixera Pro tethered low-resolution digital camera with Meiji microscope using CS adaptor and x.7 projection eye-piece.

Spirostomum (spire-owe-stow-mum) is a genus of heterotrich ciliates, and some species in this genus may extend up to 1 mm in length. With a line of membranelles leading from the anterior of the cell to the cytostome which is located about half way down the cell. Contractile. The dark central structure is the macronucleus Contractile vacuole at posterior end of cell. In habitats with low oxygen. Phase contrast.

Portrait of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum, is among the largest protists (this individual is approximately 975 microns long). The body shape is a vermiform cylinder, rounded anteriorly and truncate posteriorly. Colorless or brownish. Highly contractile. Uniform longitudinal somatic kineties. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome. Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome. The macronucleus is long and moniliform. The contractile vacuole is posterior with a long dorsal collecting canal. Often found in sapropelic habitats. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. Phase contrast illumination.

**En las aguas dulces cargadas de restos orgnicos bulle una intensa actividad en la que los protozoos ciliados adquieren un especial protagonismo por encontrar un medio ptimo para su desarrollo. Spirostomum intermedium, es uno de ellos y al igual que muchos ciliados, se alimenta de bacterias que son barridas hacia su citostoma con una fila de cilios fusionados especializados. Una de las caractersticas ms notables de Spirostomum es la forma en que puede contraerse. El organismo puede retraer su cuerpo a 1 / 4 de su longitud en un tiempo de 6-8 milisegundos, que es la ms rpida contraccin conocida en cualquier clula viva. La fotografa fue tomada con una cmara digital Olympus E-500 montada sobre un microscopio Leica DM 2000 utilizando un dispositivo de contraste de interferencia con un objetivo de x40. Para congelar el movimiento se utiliz el propio flash de la cmara.

Los Cotos, Madrid, Spain

Sant Marti Sarroca, Catalonia, Spain

Longitude (deg): -1.2. Latitude (deg): 51.4. Longitude (deg/min): 1° 10' W. Latitude (deg/min): 51° 20' N. Vice county name: Berks. Vice county no.: 22. Country: England. Identified by: Malcolm Storey. Category: macro-photograph. Image scaling: magnified. Photographic equipment used: Pixera Pro tethered low-resolution digital camera with Meiji microscope using CS adaptor and x.7 projection eye-piece.

Spirostomum (spire-owe-stow-mum) is a genus of heterotrich ciliates, and some species in this genus may extend up to 1 mm in length. With a line of membranelles leading from the anterior of the cell to the cytostome which is located about half way down the cell. Contractile. The dark central structure is the macronucleus Contractile vacuole at posterior end of cell. In habitats with low oxygen. Phase contrast.

Ventral view of peristome and cytostome of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum, is among the largest protists. The body shape is a vermiform cylinder, rounded anteriorly and truncate posteriorly. Colorless to brownish. Highly contractile. Uniform longitudinal somatic kineties. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome (seen here). Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome (both AZM and UM seen here). The macronucleus is long and moniliform. . Often found in sapropelic habitats. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.

Ribadelago de Franco, Castille and Leon, Spain

Longitude (deg): -1.2. Latitude (deg): 51.4. Longitude (deg/min): 1° 10' W. Latitude (deg/min): 51° 20' N. Vice county name: Berks. Vice county no.: 22. Country: England. Identified by: Malcolm Storey. Category: macro-photograph. Image scaling: magnified. Photographic equipment used: Pixera Pro tethered low-resolution digital camera with Meiji microscope using CS adaptor and x.7 projection eye-piece.

Detail of the cytostome of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome. Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome (both AZM and UM seen here). In this contracted individual the somatic kineties appear to spiral around the long axis of the body. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.

Longitude (deg): -1.2. Latitude (deg): 51.4. Longitude (deg/min): 1° 10' W. Latitude (deg/min): 51° 20' N. Vice county name: Berks. Vice county no.: 22. Country: England. Identified by: Malcolm Storey. Category: macro-photograph. Image scaling: magnified. Photographic equipment used: Pixera Pro tethered low-resolution digital camera with Meiji microscope using CS adaptor and x.7 projection eye-piece.

Portrait of Spirostomum ambiguum, a large heterotrich ciliate. S. ambiguum, is among the largest protists (this individual is approximately 875 microns long). The body shape is a vermiform cylinder, rounded anteriorly and truncate posteriorly. Colorless to brownish. Highly contractile. Uniform longitudinal somatic kineties. S. ambiguum is distinguished from the similar but smaller species, S. minus by the relative length of the peristome. The peristome occupies about 75% of the body length in S. ambiguum and about 50% of body length in S. minus. An adoral zone of membranelles runs along the left border of the peristome. Although many descriptions state that an undulating membrane is absent, protargol staining shows a poorly developed UM along the right margin of the peristome. The macronucleus is long and moniliform. The contractile vacuole is posterior with a long dorsal collecting canal. Often found in sapropelic habitats. From organically enriched standing freshwater near Boise, Idaho. DIC optics.

Longitude (deg): -1.2. Latitude (deg): 51.4. Longitude (deg/min): 1° 10' W. Latitude (deg/min): 51° 20' N. Vice county name: Berks. Vice county no.: 22. Country: England. Identified by: Malcolm Storey. Category: microscope photograph. Image scaling: magnified. Photographic equipment used: Pixera Pro tethered low-resolution digital camera with Meiji microscope using CS adaptor and x.7 projection eye-piece.

This image is of an uncompressed cell. The posterior parts of the cell remains loosely attached to the debris at the posterior end (contractile vacuole is the slightly grey region to the left). The anterior end twists and sweeps through the water - a bit like Dileptus.