Vorticella

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Using tweezers I took a sample from the algae which grew on the margins of an aquarium plant and then I prepared a wet mount with it. In this video you can observe an unicellular ciliate organism belonging to the Kingdom Protista. Its name is Vorticella and it has an inverted bell shape. This ciliate is anchored onto the substrate due to a contractile stalk called a myoneme. When stimulated, this shortens, causing the stalk to coil like a spring. The cilia from the head of the Vorticella make a current of water (vortex) in order to catch the food around (bacteria and other protozoa).