Hi there,

Let me first say thank you to all who took the time to reply or e-mail
me. When I started posting protozoa I was unsure if anybody was
interested in the matter at all. It now seems to me that I shall have to
post all the shots I have. I haven't counted yet but I think there are
about 20 left which are worth the post.

Yesterday I promised to show you a member of the ciliate family with
visible cilia - you remember, the filaments covering the organism which
propel its body through the water.

Instead, I bring you two of them with the cilia clearly visible. These
two are not at all eating each other - the opposite is the case. Please
dont't blame me for not having posted this one in
"alt.binaries.pictures.sex..." or something of that kind; in fact, cell
duplication is the NON-sexual way of reproduction. There is also a
sexual way, but in this case you will usually find the organisms side by
side. It may be of interest that cell duplication which creates
genetically identical individuals is used in times of adequate food
supply whereas sexual reproduction (meaning recombination of genetic
material and thus creation of biodiversity) is used to help out in case
of expiring food sources. This pattern, by the way, is universal to
biology; just think of plants growing in wet periods (non-sexual) and
blooming in dry periods (sexual).

The green spots are algae being digested. The algae eaters are the most
colourful among the ciliate family, but their interior body structures
are hard to distinguish. I'll show you a bacteria-eating ciliate later
which is almost colourless but allows to locate every detail of its
physiology.

Stay tuned

Ralf


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