Taenia spp.

Truffle spores. Spores in fecal smear (unstained, scanning power). Truffles are highly prized by gourmets and may be any of several subterranean, edible, ascomycetous fungi belonging to the genus Tuber. Such spores may occasionally be found in feces as single spores or as two to four spores surrounded by a limiting membrane. Individual spores are 60 to 65 µm long by 15 to 17 µm wide, and they have spikelike or spiny processes on the spore wall. These spinose features and their general appearance should suggest that they are not parasites. in this field, a single spore and a cluster of three spores are seen.