portrait

Description:

Anterior apical view of Vasicola ciliata (Tatem, 1869), a metacystid ciliate that produces a thin, transparent pseudochitinous vase-like lorica with shallow transverse corrugations (not seen in this image). The circular cytostome is located in the center of the truncate anterior end. It opens into a cytopharynx supported by indistinct trichites. There are three concentric ciliary rings around the cytostome, the innermost with a single ciliary row, the middle with a double ciliary row and a third ring of four ciliary rows. The uniform longitudinal ciliary rows are formed of dikinetids kinetosomes the alignment which gives the appearance of transverse ciliary bands (paratenes). . The cell often vacates the lorica when disturbed. When swimming free the cell is more elongate. The uniform longitudinal ciliary rows are formed of dikinetid kinetosomes the alignment which gives the appearance of transverse ciliary bands (paratenes). There is a sparse tuft of long caudal cilia (only one long eccentric posterior cilium is seen in the similar genus, Metacystis and another metacystid, Pelatractus, lacks caudal cilia). Vasicola ciliata is sapropelic and feeds on sulfur bacteria. Collected from stagnant freshwater sediment with strong smell of hydrogen sulfide near Boise, Idaho January 2004. DIC optics.