PowerPoint Contents
Introduction
Campanella sp. are single-celled colonial ciliates with stalks that attach to a solid substratum (5). They feed using rings of cilia (4) which create vortices that draw food to the cell surface, where it may be engulfed. Campanella sp. are stalked epiphytes; they require a solid support to allow their cells to remain stationary in the center of a vortex while food particles blow towards their buccal cavity, depleting their environment of particulate matter. This epiphytic life style allows them to take advantage of the supporting structures of other organisms rather than constructing their own. Campanella sp. show rapid feeding motions and slow motions of organelles that may be detected using video microscopy. Cytoplasmic streaming is shown in fast motion to show rotation of organelles. Solid support for these protistans may be provided by green algae such as Nitella.
Figure 1: Observation of Campanella sp. (video).
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