A mysterious 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 a few days.

At first glance this object appeared to be a round aggregate rather than a living creature, but more careful observation revealed numerous small organisms moving inside. By fast-forwarding the video to ten times the normal speed, we still cannot identify the organisms but we can certainly confirm that they are alive.

Commentary by Prof. Yuji Tsukii, Hosei University
We cannot identify the organisms in this video; we can only say that numerous small organisms are moving together using either flagella or amoeboid movement. But as the individual organisms are small and packed together too closely, it is difficult to determine how they move. We might be able to understand more by taking the body apart to observe each individual cell, or by comparing it to similar living bodies nearby. Mysterious organisms like these are sometimes found in natural, uncultivated fields.

Sampling Date : 16 October 2006

Sampling Site : KASHIMADAI paddy field  Google Map