Sphaerita spp.
“Big bugs have little bugs, on their backs
to bit them’
Little bugs have lesser bugs, and so on ad
infinitum”
Anonymous
Some protozoan parasites can themselves be
parasitized. A hyper-parasite! The genus Sphaerita is considered to be a lower fungus
and some species are capable of invading the cytoplasm of some amoeboid parasites. Another parasite of parasites is Nucleophaga species which invades the
nucleus. Sphaerita, (sometimes called Polyphaga
spp.) appear as tightly packed clusters within the cytoplasm and measure
approximately 0.5 µm to 1.0 µm.
The parasite show below is possibly an Entamoeba coli, however the nucleus is
not visible as it is out of the plane of focus.
Sphaerita appears as the small dots within the cytoplasm.
An amoeboid parasite itself parasitized by the fungal parasite Sphaerita spp. The Sphaerita appear as the neatly arranged circular dots withing the cytoplasm.
Iron hematoxylin stain (X1000) Nikon
An amoeboid parasite itself parasitized by the fungal parasite Sphaerita spp. Doesn't appear to be digested material or inclusions. This parasite appears to have a rather dark blotchy karyosome reminiscent of Iodamoeba bütchlii. Unfortunately I failed to record measurements when I took these photos. E.coli, Iodamoeba bütchlii and E.nana were all present in this particular specimen.
Iron hematoxylin stain (X1000) Nikon
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