Images of Protists
Images and movies contributed by our members.
Protist videos by George Sartiano
An extensive collection of videos about protists produced by George Sartiano, who may be contacted at sartiano@hotmail.com. The collection is housed on its own page.
The Protists of Singapore
Videos and images by Brandon Seah. Singapore is a highly urbanized island sited almost on the Equator, but still has some small patches of forest that support a surprising amount of biodiversity. Its plant and animal life have been amply documented, but not so the protists that thrive unseen. This webpage aims to bring the wonderful diversity of protist life into the foreground, showing that they are not just "pond scum" but beautiful organisms that often have interesting behaviors. Illustrated with both photomicrographs and videos.
http://sgprotist.wordpress.com/
Protists of the Plankton Image Gallery
Images by John Dolan. Marine protists (ciliates, dinoflagellates, radiolarians, etc.) found in the plankton with an emphasis on tintinnid ciliates.
http://www.obs-vlfr.fr/gallery/Aquaparadox
Videos of Marine Planktonic Protists
Videos by John Dolan. Short but high-res videos of Tintinnid ciliates and Ceratium dinoflagellates.
http://www.obs-vlfr.fr/LOV/aquaparadox/html/VideosPage.php
Dinoflagellate Feeding Strategies
Video and presentation development by Urban Tillmann. Contact him at urban.tillmann@awi.de with questions and comments.
This video collection demonstrates several feeding techniques used by predatory dinoflagellates.
- Pallium feeding
- Peduncle feeding
- Engulfment feeding
Didinium's Squeeze Bulb Ingestion Technique
Video observation and text by Bruce J Russell
The
Didinium/Paramecium relationship is a classic study in predator prey
relations. Many students of protozoa have seen Didinium spear its
prey using trichites, explosive threads that not only paralyze
the prey, stopping its ciliary beat, but also secure it for engulfment. Didinium
then expands its mouth and swallows the Paramecium. I had filmed
this act several times without clearly showing how the actual engulfment of
the prey (often larger than the predator) is achieved. Staining Paramecium
with congo red allowed clear visualization of Didinium's "squeeze
bulb" ingestion process. This observation is from The Biology of Protists
DVD.
Gerda sp.
Video by Genoveva Esteban