Euglena

Reservoir  

Euglenid protists are generally elongated cells that

possess one or two flagella; there are about 1000 species.

While many are photosynthetic, some euglenids lack
chloroplasts and are colorless. The euglenid cell is covered
by a flexible coat, the pellicle, that allows the cell to
change shape; euglenids can swim using their flagella but
can also creep using a peculiar type of "inching"
locomotion known as metaboly. Most known euglenids live
in shallow freshwater habitats enriched in organic matter,
but some live in marine or brackish waters, and a few are
parasitic in animals.

 Trypanosoma

Relatives of the Euglenida, kinetoplastids include two main

groups of small, flagellated protists: the bodonids, which are
free-living and common in freshwater habitats, and the
parasitic trypanosomes. The best-known trypanosomes are
those in the genus Trypanosoma that cause human diseases
such as sleeping sickness (in equatorial Africa) and Chagas'
disease (in South America). Trypanosomes are transmitted
by biting flies, and are a serious public health problem in
much of the world.

 Paramecium

Paramecium is a slipper shaped ciliate which is found in

oxygenated aquatic environments feeding near vegetative
matter. This organism is quite common and may easily be
obtained from the shallow waters of the Suquehanna River.
Despite its small size and stout build it is the most agile of the
paramecia, capable of bending back on itself and contorting in
ways which mimic fluid, ameboid movement.

 Tetrahymena

Tetrahymena thermophila is a useful mo del

organism for molecular research at all levels. A
ciliated single-celled protozoan, Tetrahymena is a
freshwater organism that inhabits streams, lakes,
and ponds and can be found almost everywhere, in
a range of climates. The cells are large (40-50 um)
and their complexity rivals human cells, making
them a good alternative to human tissues

 Didinium

Didinium  are from 80-200 um long, fast moving

carnivorous protozoans that feed almost exclusively on live
Paramecium.

When its oral cone strikes a Paramecium it latches on with
a threadlike trichocyst.  Once captured and paralyzed, the
didinium devours the Paramecium whole.

The "C"-shaped structure inside the body is a band shaped
nucleus and can sometimes be seen with a regular light
microscope.

Didinium will encyst when the food source is depleted and
excyst when the food returns.


 Dinoflagellates

Dinoflagellates are common organisms in all types of

aquatic ecosystems. Roughly half of the species in the
group are photosynthetic, the other half is exclusively
heterotrophic and feeds via osmotrophy and phagotrophy.
As a consequence, they are prominent members of both
the phytoplankton and the zooplankton of marine and
freshwater ecosystems. They are also common in benthic
environments and in sea ice.

 Amoeba

Amoeba proteus is a large protozoan with an ever

changing shape that is approximately 500-1000 um long.  
It can almost be seen with the naked eye.  

Amoeba proteus  can sense light and tends to move away
from it. Just before it reproduces, it rounds up into a ball
with tiny pseudopodia extensions. Over the next 15 minutes
or so, it splits and becomes two. Image below shows one
amoeba in the final stages of splitting. Look carefully and
you can see the clear channel between the two new
amoebas.


 Actinosphaerium

Actinosphaerium is a protist that looks like a sea urchin

and is from 200-1000 micrometers wide. They are also
called Heliozoans, or "Sun Animals” because their body is
spherical with stiff axopodia that are not used in
locomotion but rather in feeding.

 Radiolarians

Radiolaria are holoplanktonic protozoa widely distributed in

the oceans. They occur throughout the water column from
near surface to hundreds of meters depth. As with many
planktonic organisms, their abundance in a geographical
region is related to quality of the water mass, including
such variables as temperature, salinity, productivity, and
available nutrients.

 Trichonympha

Termites, of course, are famous as the organisms that eat

wood -- often the wood in your house. However, termites
could not feed on wood without the help of symbiotic
protists living in their digestive tract.

These protists take in wood particles: in the picture of
Trichonympha above, in the lower portion of the cell, you
can see a mass of granular material that is in fact wood
particles being digested. Trichonympha is only one of
several such protists found in the guts of termites.