OTHER FLAGELLATES 



123 



Bodo caudatus (Dujardin, 1841) Stein, 

 1878 is a common coprophilic form and 

 also occurs in stale urine and stagnant 

 water. It is 8 to 18;U long and 2. 5 to 6)ll 

 wide, with a polymorphic body ranging in 

 shape from spherical to elongate ovoid. 

 It has a tiny contractile vacuole, a single 

 vesicular nucleus with a large endosome 

 and a rounded parabasal body. This spe- 

 cies and also B. foetus and B.glissans 

 have been found in material from bulls 

 submitted for TritricIiouw>ias foetus diag- 

 nosis. 



Genus CBRCOMONAS Dujardin, 1841 



These are small forms with a plastic 

 body, one flagellum directed anteriorly 

 and the other running backward over the 

 body to become a trailing flagellum. The 

 nucleus is piriform and is connected with 

 the basal granule of the flagella. The 

 cysts are spherical and uninucleate. A 

 number of freshwater and coprophilic 

 species have been described, but it is not 

 clear whether all the species are valid. 



Cercomonas longicauda Dujardin, 

 1841 is a common coprophilic flagellate. 

 Its trophozoites are amoeboid, 2 to 15 /j. 

 long, have 2 contractile vacuoles, and 

 ingest food by means of pseudopods. Its 

 cysts are 4 to 7jj, in diameter. 



Cercomonas heimi (Hollande) is sim- 

 ilar to C. longicauda but is piriform and 

 has longer flagella. 



Cercomonas equi (Sabrazes and Mur- 

 atet, 1908) (syn. , C. asini) was described 

 from the large intestine of the horse and 

 donkey and also occurs in their feces. 



coprophilic. It has been found in material 

 from bulls submitted for examination for 

 Tritrichomonas foetus (Morgan and Haw- 

 kins, 1952). Its trophozoites measure 10 

 to 16 by 7 to 10 /ix. 



Fig. 19. Coprophilic flagellates. A. Cer- 

 comonas sp. X 4200. B. Copro- 

 nionas subtilis. X 5100. 

 C. Moiias sp. X 4200. (From 

 Noble, 1956) 



Noble (1956) found Cercomonas sp. 

 in fresh bovine and porcine feces, and 

 cultivated them in feces in the refrigerator 

 at 4° C for 5 months. Noble (1958) found 

 that Cerco»io)ms sp. appeared in fecal 

 specimens from Wyoming elk, bison, cat- 

 tle, horses and sheep after storage at 4°C 

 for 6 to 7 days. They persisted for sev- 

 eral weeks and then died out. They failed 

 to survive in soil alone or in soil mixed 

 with boiled feces, nor could they be found 

 in soil samples taken from areas where 

 elk, sheep or horses were present. Noble 

 concluded that this and other coprophilic 

 protozoa may require certain essential 

 metabolites produced by bacteria. 



Cercomonas faecicola (Woodcock and 

 Lapage, 1915) (syn., Helkesimastix fae- 

 cicola) was found in the feces of the goat. 

 It is ovoid, with a rigid, pointed anterior 

 end. The anterior flagellum is very short 

 and easily overlooked. The trophozoites 

 are 4 to 6jLt long and the cysts 3 to 3. 5 /i 

 in diameter. 



Cercomonas crassicauda Dujardin, 

 1841 occurs in fresh water and is also 



The Cercomonas sp. trophozoites ob- 

 served by Noble (1958) were 5. 4 by 2. 5jj,, 

 somewhat tadpole-shaped, with a broad 

 anterior end tapering to a highly flexible 

 tail-like posterior end. An extremely 

 short anterior flagellum, visible only with 

 phase contrast, extended from a minute 

 subterminal cytostome. Another flagellum 

 arose from the anterior region, passed 

 thru the cytoplasm ventral to the nucleus, 

 emerged about 2/3 of the body length from 



