Cryptozoology ?

Factual Questions
1

As a young medic on my first tour in Viet Nam (a long time ago), I was involved with burning a water-filled trench. It turned out later, that we were supposed to be putting a thin layer of diesel fuel in the trench to kill the mosquito larvae, but I didn’t know that at the time. So we kept setting it on fire, waiting until it burned off and then doing it again.

In the water in the ditch, I noticed (between burnings) that there was a small semi-transparent animal about the size a fingernail that moved pseudopodally. I was amazed. It looked and moved like an amoeba, but it was big enough to see with the naked eye. I put my finger near it and it moved toward my finger. That startled me and I jerked my finger away. I had seen enough horror movies to know not to let it get on my finger.

I told our doctor about it (the sainted Doc Laubengayer), but he was more concerned with getting us playful medics to stop setting the ditch on fire every time we had it well layered in fuel, so he didn’t really pay any attention.

I have wondered what the little creature was for a long time. I have searched the web and even e-mailed one cryptobiology website about it, but they are more interested in creatures much larger and hairier and toothy so they never answered me.

I have asked such scientifically inclined folks as I know, but usually get answers like: “I’m a chemist” or “I dunno buddy, I’m just here to fix the leak in the sink.”

Any microbiologists out there want to hazard a guess ? If it turns out to be something new, will you name it after my kids ?

2

oops, I thought this was going into “General Questions”

4

OK. Thanks.

5

I remember reading a while back about some sort of amoeba-like creature that was the size of a pigeon’s egg - even though it was (supposedly) single-celled, but IIRC this organism was marine, not aquatic.

Could it (what you saw) be some kind of mollusc perhaps?

6

I don’t think it was any sort of mollusc. I am familiar with molluscs and other salt water denizens having grown up on the coast.

where did you read about the pigeon’s egg sized amoeba-like creature ? that sounds like a likely candidate.

7

Chaos carolinense:

Some of these get up to 5mm long (5000ì)!

[sub]fixed coding - DrMatrix[/sub]

8

I’ll move this to General Questions for you.

Off to GQ.

DrMatrix - GQ Moderator

9

Here, but let me stress these are marine organisms; not a likely candidate, I would say.

10

Thanks all. I think it probably was something similar to Chaos Carolinense. It is good to know that there is such a thing. I have wondered about it for 30 years. They didn’t have message boards back then.

11

My vote to call your one Chaos Carolinense Slothropiens

12

But I wanted to name it after my kids: “Chaos BenandJulie”

13

The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature strictly forbids capitalization of specific names, so it should be Chaos carolinense slothropiens (assuming ICZN covers Protists, which I can’t quite recall at the moment).

Also, my advisor’d sack me if I didn’t add that I work with Foraminifera, whose tests can get up to the cm range. Although they don’t look it, they are Sarcodinian protists, just like Amoeba (albeit with shells).

14

“The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature strictly forbids capitalization of specific names, so it should be Chaos carolinense slothropiens”

How about Chaos carolinense benandjulieslothropiens ? If you dropped in on the Slothropian house, you would see that this is an appropriate name, except for the carolinense part, she doesn’t live here.

15

This thread made me go and drag out my microscope after a bit of a long hiatus. I’d nearly forgotten how much I enjoy hunting for protists.