| Themes > Science > Zoological Sciences > Animal Phyla and Included Classes > Sub-Kingdom: Protozoa > Phylum Ciliophora |
Place a drop of methyl cellulose solution on a slide and put a drop of the Paramecium culture on it. Cover the drop with a coverslip. Examine the movements of the paramecia. They have ciliated bodies covered with rigid pellicles. There is an anterior depression, the oral groove, leading to the mouth and gullet. Food is taken into the gullet and then pinched off into a food vacuole. There is a definite anal pore at the posterior end. The contractile vacuoles may also be observed, one at each end. Paramecia live in fresh-water, but there are many marine ciliates. Paramecia have two nuclei, best seen on a stained preparation. They reproduced by a simple fission, or by complicated nuclear exchange. Exchange between two individuals is called conjugation. Look at the conjugation slide on demonstration. See also Balantidium coli, a rather mild parasite of humans and pigs which occurs in both trophozoite (active) and cyst forms. |
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