Bye Cyanobacteria!

[sixty_reefer]

Just get a few amoebas from your local LFS

Joking aside, I’ve been finding thousands of amoeba looking organisms around the edges of the disappearing cyanobacteria mats and now I’m pretty sure I’ve seen cyanobacteria inside most of them under the microscope. Turns out there’s actually literature showing amoebas grazing on cyanobacteria.

Maybe some of the things we try so hard to get rid of just need the right thing to come along and eat them.

 

[KrisReef]

Just get a few amoebas from your local LFS

Joking aside, I’ve been finding thousands of amoeba looking organisms around the edges of the disappearing cyanobacteria mats and now I’m pretty sure I’ve seen cyanobacteria inside most of them under the microscope. Turns out there’s actually literature showing amoebas grazing on cyanobacteria.

Maybe some of the things we try so hard to get rid of just need the right thing to come along and eat them.

Can you ship me some? Seems like there should be a market for these "Berghia amoebii?"

 

[EnterName]

Will you attach some images later?

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

Maybe some of the things we try so hard to get rid of just need the right thing to come along and eat them.

But then, who will eat the amoeba?

 

[sixty_reefer]

Can you ship me some? Seems like there should be a market for these "Berghia amoebii?"

Give me a few weeks to get the culture going and we’ll split the profits.

 

[sixty_reefer]

But then, who will eat the amoeba?

One problem at a time That can be next week’s experiment.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Will you attach some images later?

I’ve only got a few images unfortunately. I haven’t been taking many videos since my original thread being closed.

There were also some really small baby amoeba like organisms trying to eat massive Cyanobacteria filaments, literally trying to eat way more that they can manage (no image).

One of the babies ​

Possibly the mum (wend I first noticed them in the aquarium, some are enormous)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Make sure you are not culturing brain eating amoebas. lol

 

[EnterName]

Make sure you are not culturing brain eating amoebas. lol

You can have a Brain and Cyanos or none of both, you gotta choose!

 

[EnterName]

Will you attach some images later?

I’ve only got a few images unfortunately. I haven’t been taking many videos since my original thread being closed.

There were also some really small baby amoeba like organisms trying to eat massive Cyanobacteria filaments, literally trying to eat way more that they can manage (no image).

One of the babies ​

Possibly the mum (wend I first noticed them in the aquarium, some are enormous)

Can't see the cyanos unfortunately

 

[sixty_reefer]

Make sure you are not culturing brain eating amoebas. lol

Too late

 

[sixty_reefer]

Can't see the cyanos unfortunately

In the earlier image with the two amoebas, it was the one on the left that was having a feast on a fragment of Oscillatoria. I’ve got a few different types of cyanobacteria in there.


40x magnification i believe

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You can have a Brain and Cyanos or none of both, you gotta choose!

Lol

 

[sixty_reefer]

There are at least three different types of cyanobacteria in the screenshot above, taken from a video at 1000x magnification.

 

[EnterName]

Will you attach some images later?

I’ve only got a few images unfortunately. I haven’t been taking many videos since my original thread being closed.

There were also some really small baby amoeba like organisms trying to eat massive Cyanobacteria filaments, literally trying to eat way more that they can manage (no image).

One of the babies ​

Possibly the mum (wend I first noticed them in the aquarium, some are enormous)

Are you sure the first image shows two amoebas?

Compared to the other ones they have a very regular shape and I can't see any pseudopods either.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Are you sure the first image shows two amoebas?

Compared to the other ones they have a very regular shape and I can't see any pseudopods either.

They sure don't appear to be to me.


Sixty:
There are claims here that go beyond observation, a few of them are "cyanobacteria inside most of them," "having a feast," "trying to eat way more than they can manage," "Oscillatoria," "a few different types of cyanobacteria," "at least three different types."

Those are conclusions, not observations. How are you separating what's actually visible in these images and video from confirmation bias regarding what you expect to see?

 

[sixty_reefer]

Are you sure the first image shows two amoebas?

No, that’s why I’ve been calling them amoeba like. The exact ID would be nice to know but for me the more interesting question is what these organisms might actually be doing.

These are samples taken from the same location, one yesterday and one today. Does anyone see a difference?

Today

Yesterday

 

[sixty_reefer]

They sure don't appear to be to me.


Sixty:
There are claims here that go beyond observation, a few of them are "cyanobacteria inside most of them," "having a feast," "trying to eat way more than they can manage," "Oscillatoria," "a few different types of cyanobacteria," "at least three different types."

Those are conclusions, not observations. How are you separating what's actually visible in these images and video from confirmation bias regarding what you expect to see?

Of course confirmation bias is possible. That’s why I’m sharing observations rather than claiming I’ve scientifically identified everything. I’ve watched these amoeba like organisms engulf what appears to be filamentous cyanobacteria and found similar material inside them. “Having a feast” is hardly intended as a scientific conclusion. Maybe “eating spaghetti” would have been the more scientific description.

 

[sixty_reefer]

The visual difference, two days apart

 

[RobertK]

Of course confirmation bias is possible. That’s why I’m sharing observations rather than claiming I’ve scientifically identified everything. I’ve watched these amoeba like organisms engulf what appears to be filamentous cyanobacteria and found similar material inside them. “Having a feast” is hardly intended as a scientific conclusion. Maybe “eating spaghetti” would have been the more scientific description.

Cool photo, whatever it is!