Heliozoea looks like the sun

This roughly spherical organism called Heliozoea is slowly moving. It has many stiff, microtubule-supported projections called axopods radiating outward from the cell surface. This reminds us of the sun, after which the organism is named.

Commentary by Prof. Yuji Tsukii, Hosei University
This organism is certainly a kind of Heliozoea, but it is too small to be determined to the species level. To identify Heliozoea, we need to see the shape of the axopods and whether anything is attached to the cell surface, but it is difficult to observe these features in this tiny organism.

Sampling Date : 28 May 2009

Sampling Site : Hirose River B  Google Map