foraminifer with dinoflagellates

This is time lapse (~90x real-time) video-microscopy of a soritid foraminifer encountering Symbiodinium dinoflagellates, using a Nikon inverted phase contrast scope, Nikon D80 camera, and iStopMotion software.

This shows the interaction between two marine microorganisms, a foraminifer and many tiny dinoflagellate algae. The large disc-shaped thing is the foraminifer; it is about 2mm across. It is collecting the dinoflagellates around it. These dinoflagellates are the same algae that live inside corals, and these foraminifera have a similar symbiotic relationship with their algae as do corals. I use this kind of time-lapse video to compress processes that happen on a longer time scale into a few seconds, which helps to understand the dynamic nature of the living microscopic world on coral reefs.

Thanks for watching! This is my first YouTube video and would love some feedback.

The audio track is "Gangster's Theme" by RZA, from the Ghost Dog soundtrack.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• protist
• foraminifera
• symbiodinium
• dinoflagellates
• marine
• ecology
• protozoa
• rhizaria
• cercozoa
• microscopy
• time-lapse

[651446]

Is that sorites?

[foraminiferal]

Amphisorus.

[dasparkylad]

He has life pretty easy! I wish I had arms that just went into tesco for me :D

[ireidpwnerofn00bs]

Damn those is some dope rhizaria you got there

[foraminiferal]

@Thek213

Yes, forams are big for single-celled organisms.

However, many of them are multi-nucleate and have multiple chambers. Thus forams blur the line between single-cellular and multi-cellular.

Many organisms have continuous cytoplasm like this, including many fungi and algae. Slime molds (not true fungi) like Dictyostelium in particular come to mind since they are giant motile aggregated amoebae.

Our idea of the ideal cell is biased by the fact that we are animals!

[foraminiferal]

@redrocket8

True, but there were fusilinids (now extinct) that were over 10cm long.

[MrPaleocean]

Great video!!!

[redrocket8]

The Largest forams never get much larger then a few cm...