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Specimen
003
This specimen is a member of the genus of ciliates called Lacrymaria. Lacrymaria olor is typically 0.10 mm long and found in freshwater ponds. Its name means "swan tear" in Latin, and refers to its general shape: namely, a teardrop-shaped cell with a small "head" at the end of a very long slender "neck". Lacrymaria olor can stretch that cell up to 7 times its body length, and manipulate it in many directions — even around obstacles — in order to capture its food, as you shall see in this video. It's a fast little thing that was very difficult to follow on video but we managed to catch it stopping to graze on a clump of organic material. |