A drifting organism

After being collected from a paddy field, the sample was put on 1% agar plate with a drop of distilled water and kept for four days. A small and somewhat strange organism is drifting, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. Its basically round cell shape often changes like an amoeba.

Commentary by Prof. Yuji Tsukii, Hosei University
This organism is difficult to identify. Its main characteristics are: (a) the body surface changes flexibly like an amoeba; (b) it moves actively; and (c) the cell size is about 20μm long. Therefore the organism may be Monas.

http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/PDB/Im.....

However, we cannot see some typical features of Monas in this video-that is, two flagella of different lengths and a cytostome (mouth) at the base of the flagella. Therefore it is possible that the organism is some other kind of flagellates.

Sampling Date : 17 November 2006

Sampling Site : KASHIMADAI paddy field  Google Map