portrait, group

Description:

Phyllomitus (file-owe-mite-us) is a swimming phagotrophic flagellate - believed to be related to the stramenopiles (because of the sine wave pattern of beating of the anterior flagellum and because the flagellum draws the cell forward suggesting the presence of flagellar hairs). There is a second trailing flagellum. This is not a particular familiar genus, but is one of the more voracious heterotrophic flagellates. They may ingest particles of food many times bigger than themselves - and is not unknown to see swimming diatoms which after carefully scrutiny can be seen to be a large diatom enclosed by a Phyllomitus that has become stretched very thinly. Phase contrast.