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Lacrymaria hunts Tetrahymena

At the Molecular Evolution and the Cell SMBE Satellite Meeting a few weeks back, one of the organizers Nels Elde showed me this video he took of Lacrymaria feeding on other ciliates. He says: “Lots of folks assume that Lacrymaria’s probing behavior represents feeding, but it’s not until it successfully engulfs a prey ciliate like Tetrahymena that the feast begins through some crazy process of phagocytosis. After a meal, Lacrymaria has to reload its dense core granule arsenal to the tip of the neck before it can feed again.”