English | English The film depicts locomotion and reproduction of the rare thecamoeba Arcella dentata (Rhizopoda, Testacea). First of all, the general morphology of the organism is shown: a dish-shaped test, peripherally ornamented by a regularly spaced circle of spines, with its wall exhibiting a hexagonal structure; and a concentrically stratified protoplast, which, by means of epipodia, is attached to the thecal wall. The activity of contractile vacuoles, the movement by means of pseudopodia, and the ingestion of food are then demonstrated. Subsequently, the film documents morphogenesis and cell division, repeatedly photographed in dorsal aspect and in lateral view. Finally, one may follow the formation and the resorption of intracytoplasmic gas vacuoles. |