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Oligohymenophorea: Peritrichia: Sessilida: Vorticellidae

 Carchesium polypinum
Linnaeus, 1758

Carchesium Genus: Colonial; each zooid has a separately contractile myoneme (Illustrated Guide, 1985). Each animal has its own myoneme, can contract singly without causing colony to contract (How to know the protozoa, 1979).
Species: 100-125 μm long; colony up to 3 mm; fresh water (Kudo, 1966). 120-125 μm long (How to know the protozoa, 1979). Body bell-shaped; 80-140 μm long; a macronucleus C-shaped (Kojima, et al., 1995).
Similar Genus ->> Zoothamnium; Vorticella; Opercularia; Epistylis;

Carchesium polypinum, cell body 75 μm long, 40 μm wide, peristome 60 μm wide, x 640, rice field near Ta-gawa (Ta river), O-yama-dai-ni, Kaminokawa town, Tochigi Pref., Japan, May 4, 2004 by Y. Tsukii
scale 100 μm scale 200 μm scale 300 μm; x 200 : scale 50 μm scale 100 μm scale 150 μm; x 400
Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium Carchesium

Carchesium polypinum Linnaeus, 1758: 100-125 μm long; colony up to 3 mm; fresh water (Kudo, 1966). 120-125 μm long (How to know the protozoa, 1979). Body bell-shaped; 80-140 μm long; a macronucleus C-shaped (Kojima, et al., 1995).

Carchesium granulatum Kellicott: About 100 μm long; two contractile vacuoles anterior (Kudo, 1966).

cf. Zoothamnium: Like Carchesium but myonemes of individuals are connected as a single, branched contractile system, whole colony contracts at once (How to know the protozoa, 1979).

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