Michael:
What you describe sounds like it must be one of the very common species
of the Cilliate of the Genus, Vorticella.
Len Ornstein
Michael Bell wrote:
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>> I'm trying to identify a single-celled organism I've found in samples of =
> rainwater runoff taken from
> road gutters, puddles, etc. It appears to consist of a flared, or =
> bell-shaped, body and is attached
> to an anchoring point by a long, thin tubule. Occasionally, the =
> organism will contract violently into
> a sphere, remaing clenched like this for several seconds before opening =
> again and resuming its
> feeding. Feeding seems to be accomplished by fanning flattened =
> projections in front of the flared
> opening, drawing water inside. After mitosis, one of the organisms =
> swims away at high speed, using
> the same fanning technique used for feeding. Any info would be =
> appreciated, as well as reccomendations
> for a good reference book for identifying protozoans.
>> =
> Michael Bell
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>> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
> <HTML>
> <HEAD>
>> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 =
> http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=3DGENERATOR>
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> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>I'm trying to identify a =
> single-celled organism=20
> I've found in samples of rainwater runoff taken from</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>road gutters, puddles, etc. It =
> appears to=20
> consist of a flared, or bell-shaped, body and is attached</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>to an anchoring point by a long, =
> thin=20
> tubule. Occasionally, the organism will contract violently=20
> into</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>a sphere, remaing clenched like this =
> for several=20
> seconds before opening again and resuming its</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>feeding. Feeding seems to be =
> accomplished=20
> by fanning flattened projections in front of the flared</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>opening, drawing water inside. =
> After=20
> mitosis, one of the organisms swims away at high speed, =
> using</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>the same fanning technique used for=20
> feeding. Any info would be appreciated, as well as=20
> reccomendations</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>for a good reference book for =
> identifying=20
> protozoans.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000=20
> size=3D2> &nbs=
> p;  =
> ; =
> &=
> nbsp; &n=
> bsp; &nb=
> sp; &nbs=
> p;  =
> ; =20
> Michael Bell</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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