Some slender ciliates

[dy5]

Just a few ciliates that have turned up in water samples over the last couple of months. My IDs are very tentative, so any help with them would be much appreciated.

#1. Loxodes sp. - not common in these samples; flattened body; relatively slow-moving

#2. Dileptus sp. - hard to photograph because the front end thrashes about constantly; one of three similar species in the samples

#3. I don't have an ID for this one. I've only encountered it once.

#4. Spirostomum sp. - anterior ends of two individuals; common; can be >1mm long; there appear to be brown and silver morphs in the same sample; sometimes occur in huge numbers; seem to be more active nocturnally

Equipment: Nikon 80i microscope and D850 camera, DIC, high-speed flash

Cheers, David

[Scarodactyl]

Great shots! The level of detail is just amazing.

[carlos.uruguay]

Super super nice!!