Tintinnopsis Haus

[Rene]

Hello, just came across a nice form of Tintinnopsis housing, from a North Sea sample near Texel. It catched my eye because it contained some inclusions that I cannot identify. They seem empty, and the one most below (last image) shows a hole in the wall. Anyway, this beauty from the cold Noordzee is the house of a ciliate called Tintinnopsis mortensenii (according to Paulmier). Objective 20x nA 0.75, Lugol preserved.

Best wishes, Rene

[Lupus]

Hallo,
ich habe aus experimenteller Neugierde versucht, ob man aus den drei Aufnahmen ein Stereobild mit räumlicher Darstellung des "Mageninhaltes" erzeugen kann. Natürlich ist das Ergebnis recht rustikal, es fehlen 2-3 Zwischenbilder, aber zumindest erkennt man etwas "Volumen". Für einen besseren 3D-Effekt wurde die Bildreihenfolge invertiert.

Hubert

[Michael Plewka]

Hi Rene,

interesting organisms! Never seen before...How did you collect the sample? Plankton? Algae in the driftline? I think it is important to know if  the "inclusions" have been stained by the Lugol or if they are  naturally brownish (iron?). Especially the inclusion with the opening reminds me of Trachelomonas.
The other question is: have the inclusions been uptaken by the ciliate or are they organisms that entered the ciliate after death...

Best
Michael Plewka

[Rene]

Thanks for the replies. Nice stack Hubert, it gives a good feeling for the depth. And that with only 3 images. Michael, good questions. The colour is typical for lugol stained organic matrices. It's a sample taken from Texel, Nordsee side. Bucket sample, 10 meter from the shore. There's no outflow of freshwater near, and I haven't found any freshwater algae like Trachelomonas in the sample. But thanks for the consideration.

Best wishes, René