A recent sample of pond sediment yielded some extraordinary organisms. Among them are the ciliates listed below…
Featured Photo: This ciliate is from the genus Frontonia.
Above: Many of these very large ciliates were swimming about. I’m not entirely sure what they are, but they closely resembled genera within the family Spirostomidae.
Above: Many of the ciliates in the sediment were quite large, such as the one shown above.
Above: I was pleased to find more Chilodonella, such as the one shown above.
Above: Another large ciliate that I believe to be in the class Heterotrichea.
Above: Remarkably, I was able to photograph this ciliate, wich was moving (and twiching) very fast and erratically. there were hundreds of them on the slide. I believe this ciliate to be of the genus Cyclidium, in the subclass Scuticociliata.