Volvox globator (Volvox globator)

Volvox - Volvox globator Volvox are so amazing. They are a type of green algae that forms hollow, spherical colonies of up to 50,000 cells ( zooids)! Somehow, all of these individuals are able to work together. Each cell has an eyespot and two flagella, and mysteriously coordinate so that the Volvox moves in one direction - generally towards light. They are constantly moving (I'll try to get a video today) and respond to any changes in light by turning quickly to chase the light because they are photosynthetic. Sounds simple, but coordinating this movement requires some cells to shut off their flagella, while other cells activate theirs, thus causing the Volvox to turn toward the light. Plus, they position the cells with the most sensitive eyespots closest to the light. And, they apparently manage this complex biochemical cell-to-cell communication without a brain or even a single nerve cell.

*Photo taken with a microscope with samples that I took from cell culture

Videos:
https://vimeo.com/883541836
https://vimeo.com/883542253 Geotagged,United States,Volvox,Volvox globator,algae

Appearance

The colony consists of thousands of zooids arranged in a single peripheral layer. each zooids shows two flagella, two or more contractile vacuoles, cup like chloroplast, a single nucleus, a red stigma but no gullet. Nutrition is holophytic. Size of colony increases by binary fission. In the colony the zooids called parthenogonidia repeatedly divide to form daughter colonies which are released from parent colony.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Chlorophyta
Class	Chlorophyceae
Order	Chlamydomonadales
Family	Volvocaceae
Genus	Volvox
Species	V. globator

Photographed in
United States of America