Diatom Encounters Roadblock

[Ivanov1690]

Can diatoms in fact move independently?

[WLanier]

Many Diatoms move under their own power. Strangely, there is no widely accepted explanation of how. One hypothesis is that they pump water in and out through pores, sort of a water jet effect. Somewhere in my Diatom videomicrographs is a movie of a tiny boat-shaped Diatom pushing a giant Diatom that I calculated to be around 1,000X its mass. Somewhat like a swimmer pushing a 120,000-lb boat.

[elementale]

they moves using cytoplasm extruding from rafe fissure.