Amoeba gobbles algae cells in Mono Lake

[chaosarcee]

thats algae abuse!

[kimluvskurtcobain]

fascinating. just fascinating ...

[chelseymemoi123]

weird

[Scitech101]

where is its nucleaus

[WLanier]

The amoeba is so full of algae cells [the round green bodies] that identifying the nucleus is uncertain. It may be the larger brownish region that appears roughly round, but that is a guess, rather than an identification.

[genziwenzi]

intrestinn....

[Ringleader141]

WOW!

[loadsoftrouble]

Very helpful when studying for zoo. thank you for posting!

[waffamoto]

Whewie! Look at 'im go! :D

[yupko]

Did the microscope itself have a camera or did you look into the microscope with a camera?

[WLanier]

A Nikon Coolpix 885 digital camera was attached to the eyepiece of the microscope. The 885 accessories include an adapter threaded to attache to auxillary lenses. The eyepiece on my Swift FM-31 field microscope is a Leitz 10x eyepiece threaded to accept the adapter.

[hinduw]

my microscope looks like urs but at 10 x, how is this 400x, are they just that small?

[hoodstarx1]

i didnt see it eat

[WLanier]

The little green balls = algae inside the amoeba, and going along with it as it moves, are the same as the little green balls = algae outside the amoeba. Although the videomicrograph does not clearly show the amoeba engulfing a single algae cell, the only other conclusions make little sense.

[Hirnmorchel]

Where you can find that?

[cocoman2121]

FLAGELLUM I HAD TO SAY THAT

[ApocalypticColors]

Amazing

[wondledonkey]

Could you please tell me what kind of microscope and slides you are using? I have been trying to view things from a local pond using wells slides (the kind with the indent) and 400X magnification, but so far all I have seen is non moving debri and junk. I don't know why I can't see anything like this, but I really, really want to.

[WLanier]

The Swift FM-31 LWD is a simple field microscope. I use an LED flashlight for illumination. LWD = long working distance optics. Even LWD optics have some problems with depression slides. Use a standard flat slide. Use a coverslip. Use a pipette to sample ~100 microliters just at the interface between mud and water. Look for slimy areas to sample. Look for colors. Get a book on pond life, it will help. Google "Hidden Ecologies".

[McVaio]

Is it eating?

[WLanier]

All those little green circles inside the Amoeba are the algae cells it has eaten. All the little green circles outside the Amoeba are the algae cells it might eat, if it just bumps into them. The Amoeba lives on the mud at the bottom of Mono Lake in California. The algae cells also live on the bottom of Mono Lake. the algae cells live on sunlight [they are primitive green plants]. Salad for Amoeba...!!

[McVaio]

Thanks :)

[radhazard888]

it moves kind of slow slower than i thought

[alexjhlord]

they are protist organisms made up by cytoplasm and yeah if you eat one you can die some live in salt and in fresh and some are non parasite and some are parasites hehehe i learned this today

[PearxDrops]

im not really good at science so can someone please tell me what amoeba are and where they come from?

[Poisonsoldier67]

cool

[pewfad]

pseudopods!!! haha

[xoashley167]

wow that was awesome post alot more please

[SYDLIZ9]

sweet

[Ramenzz]

Looks cute :)

[ValkyrieMoon]

Why is it so slow and so...not mov-y. I expected to see it suck thing through its vacuoles and water diffusing....Paramecium are so much faster and cooler.

[Neovrail]

da miracles of modern science. I got to get a microscope ASAP. Its amazing that there are places many humans and animals perish, but micro life live without harm.

[tynoobi]

Awesome protozoan

Sarcodina ---

[thegrimreaper999]

Lol that amoeba better not pop or it will make quite a mess heh heh. the euglena it ate 2 weeks ago is still there!

[Daniel39363]

It's cool because this is the stuff that is all around you that you rarely think twice about, it's the stuff that populates most of the earth, even in volcanoes and superheated areas. They are the things that lived before any sign of us. They are cool because they can harm or hurt you despite their microscopic size. They are cool because they are interesting.

[DaRKSaN38]

wow how is tht cool in any way

[mgentile01]

I think what you are referring to is the word "pseudopodia" which means "false foot". Amoeba move around by extending a section of their cell membrane in a given direction (the pseudopod), and then shifting intercellular material into the pseudopod, thereby shifting their bodies forward. Which, by definition, is both moving and "changing shape" since the shape of the cellular membrane is in fact stretched and extended to create a pseudopod.

[WLanier]

Not sure what you mean by "pseudophyla". Nearest word is "Pseudophylus", genus name of a weevil [date palm stem borer]. Could you mean "Pseudopod" = false feet [see Wikipedia]? As for viruses, they do respond to chemical stimuli during the process of infection [indeed how some viruses are inhibited]. The question of "alive" probably has no meaning in this context.

[PetrolisTasty]

To begin with, a science class microscope, IF it had the necessar magnification to view one, would not have the format nor lighting required to view an ameoba. Ameoba live in vitamin rich moist areas, not tap water or wherever you CLAIM to have found it. And lastly, Ameoba do not move. They extend and retract pseudophyla.

[PetrolisTasty]

The type of microscope in science class would have the necessary magnification(Maybe..), but not the correct tuning. Further more, Amoeba are found in vitamen-rich moist areas, not tap water or whatever you think you found it in.

To conclude this, Amoeba do not change shape. The move their pseudophyla outwards.

[DemonicDerek78]

In science class 2 years ago we were learning about microscopes and doing some assignments with them. I finsihed all the things. I was bored and my teacher said I could look for an amoeba and I set up my slide and everything and found one, I got lucky mainly because ijust did random searching, and the teacher never found one doing it the right way. But it was cool to watch the amoeba change shape and stuff.

[WLanier]

Also noted: At this time of year, there are few amoebae. Later in the winter, there are many more. I found them by taking a 100-microliter sample of the bottom at the southern shoreline, in November. As long as the algae grow, the amoebae that eat them grow.

[WLanier]

This site is intended for use with a BLOG that reports environmental studies of micro-communities. Mono Lake is a large soda lake in the eastern part of California. Search "Mono Lake" for details. Geologically and biologically it is exotic and interesting, an "extreme" environment. No "space amoebae". The "warfare" is between brine fly larvae, brine shrimp larvae, and bottom plankton. At this time of year, the bottom plankton are getting hammered. The birds come in fall.

[WLanier]

Click on the blue "(more)" after the description: "Samples taken from Mono Lake, Californ... (More)" in the right-hand top of this page. The description much more detail.

[Garbo93]

what magnifacation do you need to see them?

And how can you get amoeba's?

[organic59]

we live in such a cool world.

[uglord64]

plese post more of these :)