Observation Descriptions
Observation Descriptions on Raphidocystis pallida
Raphidocystis pallida (F. E. Schulze, 1874) Zlatogursky, 2018
Heliozoa as Neuston Members
In a Petri dish containing sample water from a small pond, two feeding communities of Raphidocystis pallida could be observed using the dissecting microscope next to the chitin shell of a dead mosquito on the water surface.
Fig. 1: Feeding community of Raphidocystis pallida. Scale bar indicates 100 µm.
Sample from Pond Suploch, Hiddensee (Germany) Latitude: 54.538638, Longitude: 13.097802.
Fig. 2: Picture detail showing the nucleus (arrowhead) and the contractile vacuole (arrow). The centroplast is faintly visible (blue arrow).
Scale bar indicates 50 µm.
Fig. 3: In Raphidocystis the spiculae also adhere a short distance along the axopodia.
Scale bar indicates 10 µm.
Typical for Raphidocystis are the numerous 10–30 µm long, needle-like silicate scales (spiculae), which are arranged tangentially in a mucilaginous sheath. This thick cuticle scatters light a lot, so it was not easy to get a sufficiently clear view of the centroplast and the nucleus. Unfortunately, the Figure 2 don’t show the centroplast clearly. The centroplast is the origin and organizing center of the microtubules, which in bundles stabilize the axopodia, the radiating pseudopods of the heliozoa. This structure is characteristic for the order Centroplasthelida, to which the genus Raphidocystis belongs (Fig. 1–3).
© Wolfgang Bettighofer,
images under Creative Commons License V 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA).
For permission to use of (high resolution) images please contact postmaster@protisten.de.
New items
nostochinearum
subgranulatum
spec.
komarekii
arboricola
viridis
fenestrata
tripus
subspicatus
strictissimum
arcuata
sculpta
aureus
lunaris
lunatus
rostrata
bibraianum
irregularis
ehrenbergianum
reticulatum
marssonii
tetras
enorme
spec.
obesa
parva
dimorphus
limneticum
falcatus
viridis
cystozygote
gracillimum
hemisphaerica
lagerheimii
sicula
sudetica
aciculiferus
simplex
elegans
cyst
caudatum
pisiformis
angustum
tetrachotoma
simplex
var. sturmii
superbus
triappendiculata
spec.
incus
biradiatum
spec.
zoospores
mutabilis
spec.
microporum
var. octaedricum
tetrapedia
braunii
speciosa
reinhardtii
vulgaris
communis
pusillum
boryanum
var. longicorne
dissectum
lacustris
confluens
opoliensis
var. carinatus
quadrisetum
purpureum
paludosa
speculum
diaphanum
helminthosa
New items
nostochinearum
subgranulatum
spec.
komarekii
arboricola
viridis
fenestrata
tripus
subspicatus
strictissimum
arcuata
sculpta
aureus
lunaris
lunatus
rostrata
bibraianum
irregularis
ehrenbergianum
reticulatum
marssonii
tetras
enorme
spec.
obesa
parva
dimorphus
limneticum
falcatus
viridis
cystozygote
gracillimum
hemisphaerica
lagerheimii
sicula
sudetica
aciculiferus
simplex
elegans
cyst
caudatum
pisiformis
angustum
tetrachotoma
simplex
var. sturmii
superbus
triappendiculata
spec.
incus
biradiatum
spec.
zoospores
mutabilis
spec.
microporum
var. octaedricum
tetrapedia
braunii
speciosa
reinhardtii
vulgaris
communis
pusillum
boryanum
var. longicorne
dissectum
lacustris
confluens
opoliensis
var. carinatus
quadrisetum
purpureum
paludosa
speculum
diaphanum
helminthosa