The definition of Life is "everything is either eating, or being eaten."
Someone told me that many years ago, and it truly hit home after I became interested in microscopy.
Here we see two types of protists, Euglenids and Coleps Hirtus, feeding on the recent remains of Lepedella, a type of rotifer.
Euglenids (or Euglenoids) have diverse methods of eating, one of which is phageotropy (eating large particles of food), consuming dead or decaying matter.
Coleps Hirtus have barrel shaped bodies with plates composed of calcium carbonate. They feed on living and dead ciliates, animal and plant tissues. They are also predators, using a toxin to paralyze their victims, often bacteria, algae and flagellates, before eating them.
In this sequence, the Euglenids found the food first, then the Coleps Hirtus discovered it, but the Euglenids were more successful in the end. At one point there were 10 Euglenids consuming the remains at one time. It also appears that the nutrients are being sucked out of the carcass by the action of the Euglenids.
Video taken with Hayear HY-500 camera, Amscope M620 microscope with 10X, 20X, 40X objectives. Additional processing used Mac Photo.
Original song/video "Wanderlust" by My-Fi Saloon @my-fisaloon8370
/ @my-fisaloon8370
15 июн 2024
