# How many macroscopic (naked-eye visible) single-celled beings are there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807 "2008-11-21T11:23:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/21 "2010-10-24T23:27:26Z")
> [@falcotron](#): > > Does the genus have three species called Chaos agatho, Chaos [I’m not sure how to say neutral], and Chaos kako? Close enough: [ul][li] Chaos carolinensis[/li] [li] Chaos chaos[/li] [\*] Chaos illinoisense[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/22 "2010-10-25T00:00:42Z")
[quote=“Polycarp, post:21, topic:473807”] Close enough: [ul][li] Chaos carolinensis[/li] [li] Chaos chaos[/li] [li] Chaos illinoisense[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] So Carolina is good and Illinois is evil? Are all 9 of the Outer Planes somewhere in the US? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/23 "2010-10-25T00:28:25Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Some Amoeba can get big enough to be visible to the naked eye. - _Pelomyxa palustris_ can get to 5mm. The first page of GIS results for this creature is hilarious. There don’t seem to be any pictures of the 5mm ones, though. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/24 "2010-10-25T04:37:14Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Bah! I forgot that eggs technically qualify as single cell. An unfertilized egg is a single cell, but I would not consider it to be an organism. A fertilized egg will be dividing and so has muliple cells. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/25 "2010-10-25T14:11:55Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > An unfertilized egg is a single cell, but I would not consider it to be an organism. A fertilized egg will be dividing and so has muliple cells. What? Most cells are capable of dividing, but you still wouldn’t say they consist of more than one cell… ---
**Author:** ![wbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/439d5e/32.png) [@wbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wbeaty)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/26 "2010-10-26T01:01:49Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Why do most of these articles not have a picture [Paramecium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramecium) is easily visible at 1/3 mm. I recall using a dropper to dump a couple back into my babyfood jar of pond water, then watching them twirl around as they swam for the bottom. A bit smaller than a grain of salt, but obviously oblong in shape. On the other hand, if your illumination is bright enough, even something a couple thousand nanometers across will scatter light and be visible as a distinct bright speck. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/27 "2010-10-26T01:39:16Z")
Since no one has said this yet, the answer is billions and billions. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807/28 "2010-10-26T04:16:41Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > What? Most cells are capable of dividing, but you still wouldn’t say they consist of more than one cell… I think there’s a teleological point being made: the “purpose” of most organisms, whether single- or multi-celled, is to survive, feed, and sooner or later reproduce. (Obviously there is no real intent behind that “purpose” – it’s an anthropomorphic usage for “This is what these things do that make them successful organisms.”) In contradistinction, a fertilized ovum’s main function is to subdivide in order to grow into a multi-cellular organism that will then do the above. It may at a given instant be a living single-celled organism, but it will not remain that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-macroscopic-naked-eye-visible-single-celled-beings-are-there/473807.md?page=1)