#collotheca

A Collotheca rotifer I found in a pond by the river. This tiny sessile animal sits in a gelatinous tube with its long hairs extended to draw single-celled organisms down into its mouth. Here, the prey gathers until the rotifer contracts and 'swallows' them. It also appeared to regurgitate food particles into its mouth area, possibly to attract more prey but unsure.

”Scientists have been parsing through this overwhelming world for a few centuries now, identifying the specifics of how individual organisms live and connecting them to the bigger picture of how our world works.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Trying to Make Sense of This Overwhelming World

jam_and_germs

Hey there! This blossoming weirdo is a rotifer in the genus Collotheca, just above of it there is another rotifer that belongs to another genus/species. They are micro-animals with muscles, digestive systems etc.

Rotifers live in a perfect society where there are only female rotifers 😂 Seriously! Many rotifer species have NO MALES, females producing only females. It's something called parthenogenesis which is a type of reproduction without fertilization. And listen this, stress can cause females to produce eggs that hatch as males 😂. The males hatch as deformed, they have no mouth or digestive system and they die shortly after hatching but before they die their sole purpose is to produce sperm to fertilize the eggs. This will produce resting eggs which will hatch when the stress causing conditions disappear.

Now tell me, is this something you were familiar with? This happens in our world! Thank you for reading.

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“Molecular phylogenetic techniques have gone on to shift our understanding of microbes, raising questions and providing insights into how everything from sex to eating have evolved.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- Trying to Make Sense of This Overwhelming World

Images Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs

Journey to the Microcosmos- How to Survive the Microcosmos

Images originally captured by Jam’s Germs

Journey to the Microcosmos-  How to Survive the Microcosmos

Images originally captured by Jam’s Germs