portrait

Description:

Rhynchomonas nasuta (rink-owe-moan-ass), a kinetoplastid flagellate. Arguably the most widespread heterotrophic flagellate - so fare found in northern and southern hemispheres, Atlantic and Pacific, surface waters and in deep sediments, coastal and oceanic, in water column and in sediments, in soils and freshwater habitats, in waters so salty the salt is crystallizing and from guaranteed anoxic habitats. There are two flagella, but the front one supports an expanded lobe of cytoplasm which includes the mouth and looks a bit like a nose or a proboscis. Posterior flagellum is acronematic - in that the posterior section is thinner than the bit nearer the body. Eats bacteria through its nose. Phase contrast.