Diaphoropodon mobile with the typical rods
Diaphoropodon mobile Archer 1869
Diagnosis: as for the genus.
Dimensions: in literature 25-115 µm long, my observations: 29-178 µm long.
Ecology: Freshwater, on aquatic plants, between sphagnum and in organic-rich detritus, also in floating detritus. A common organism, often abundant, but hard to detect because of its resemblance with a piece of detritus. I found it in mountain streams in the Pyrenees up to 1800m (Espot, Spain; Cauterets, France, 2023).
Detail of the shell, Nu=nucleus
Cell with very extended filopodia
Empty test with many small quartz grains
Diaphoropodon mobile, test 110 µm large – Leitz 40X Phaco
Diaphoropodon mobile, test 110 µm large – Leitz 40X DIC T-Smith
Same specimen as above
Longitudinal division
Longitudinal division
Three cells, conjugation? – Reestdal, Netherlands, 2024
Shell with characteristic rods
Diaphoropodon mobile, pyriform shape, 77 µm long – Tirol, Austria
Diaphoropodon mobile, with many rods, 9.7 µm long; test 98 µm long – Tirol, Austria
Small specimen, 29 µm
D. mobile , Arctic circle, Norway
Pseudostome, small (l) and oval and arrowed (r)
This specimen tries to engulf a large oil droplet, probably immersion oil, and it shows how flexible its pseudostome (Ps) is. Pseudostome is nearly as wide as the shell diameter.
D. mobile with the typical rods