Ophrydium

On Thursday I went up Ben Venue. Close to the summit (which can be seen in this picture) there is a small pond which sometimes dries out.

Below is a photo of the pond taken early in the year, looking the other way, towards the trig point which is at the second top of the hill.

In this small pond I noticed some greenish masses and I thought this would be something to interest Fred so I tried to collect some. This proved difficult, as it kept slipping out of the collecting tube, so I used a bag instead.

Under the microscope, this turned out to be tiny protozoa, each containing green algae. We identified them as Ophrydium, though this usually grows in a much more defined greenish spherical jelly-like lumps. Maybe this was an old colony.

The creatures have tiny beating hairs at the front...

...and a long point at the rear.

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See also:

Green jelly balls of Ophrydium versatile

Droplet: amateur microscopy of the Protozoa

Protist Information Server

Size dependence of composition, photosynthesis and growth in the colony forming freshwater ciliate, Ophrydium versatile. Freshwater Biol. 31: 121-130

Some notes on an uncommon colonial peritrichous protozoon, Ophrydium versatile (O.F.M.). E.D. Hollowday. Microscopy 32, July-December 1975