nassula nassula nassula is a genus of unicellular ciliates, belonging to the class nassophorea. like other members of the class, nassula possesses a basket-like feeding apparatus (nasse, or cyrtos) made up of cytopharyngeal rods (nematodesmata), which are themselves composed of closely packed microtubules. nassula use this structure to ingest filamentous cyanobacteria, drawing individual strands of blue-green algae through the cytopharynx and into the body of the cell, where they are digested. as the algae are broken down, they can take on a variety of bright colours, which give nassula a distinctive, variegated appearance under the microscope. nassula nassula sp. scientific classification domain: eukaryota (unranked): sar (unranked): alveolata phylum: ciliophora subphylum: intramacronucleata class: nassophorea order: nassulida family: nassulidae genus: nassulaehrenberg, 1833 description the body is ovoid to elongate, and uniformly ciliated, with a single macronucleus and a partial hypostomial frange (synhymenium) running from the left side of the cell to the oral aperture. when food is scarce, members of the genus have the ability to become dormant by forming a microbial cyst. excystment can be induced by exposure to a medium inoculated with wild bacteria. reproduction nassula reproduce asexually, by fission. during reproduction, the cell is divided transversally. as in most ciliates (with the exception of the karyorelictea) the macronucleus splits, during division, and the micronuclei also undergo mitosis. while fission is an asexual process, it may be preceded by conjugation, during which compatible mating individuals come together and transfer genetic material across a cytoplasmic link. in conjugation, the micronuclei of each cell undergo meiosis, and haploid micronuclei are then exchanged from one cell to the other. after sexual exchange has occurred, both conjugants will divide by fission. video gallery species list nassula ambigua stein, 1854 nassula argentula kahl, 1930 nassula aureola nassula carpathica lepsi, 1927 nassula caudata ozaki & yagiu, 1941 nassula citrea kahl, 1931 nassula concinna perty, 1852 nassula conica nassula dentata (dujardin, 1841) fromentel, 1876 nassula depressa nassula derouxi njine 1979 nassula discoidea dumas, 1929 nassula dragescoi foissner, agatha & berger, 2002 nassula elongata dumas, 1930 nassula enormis nassula etoschensis foissner, agatha & berger, 2002 nassula euglena dingfelder, 1962 nassula exigua kahl, 1931 nassula flava claparède & lachmann, 1859 nassula gigantea bullington, 1940 nassula gigas nassula granata foissner, agatha & berger, 2002 nassula gutturata gajewskaja, 1927 nassula halophila gurwitsch, 1934 nassula hesperidae entz, 1884 nassula lateritia claparède & lachmann, 1859 nassula leucas nassula longinassa foissner, 1979 nassula longissima ozaki & yagiu, 1941 nassula magna smith, 1897 nassula microstoma calkins, 1903 nassula microstoma cohn, 1866 nassula microstomata nassula minima minkiewicz, 1899 nassula muscicola kahl, 1931 nassula nahchivanica alekperov, 1984 nassula notata müller, 1786 nassula oblonga maupas, 1883 nassula ornata ehrenberg, 1834 nassula parva kahl, 1928 nassula plantiformis nassula pluvialis dingfelder, 1962 nassula pseudonassula penard, 1922 nassula pusilla kahl, 1931 nassula renalis ozaki & yagiu, 1941 nassula rostrata dumas, 1930 nassula rotunda gelei, 1950 nassula rubescens dumas, 1930 nassula terminalis ozaki & yagiu, 1941 nassula terricola foissner, 1989 nassula transpeisonica löffler, 1979 nassula tuberculata foissner, agatha & berger, 2002 nassula tumida maskell, 1887 nassula versicolor andré, 1916 nassula vesiculosagajewskaja, 1933