Stentor, sometimes called trumpet animalcules, are a genus of filter-feeding, heterotrophic ciliates, representative of the heterotrichs. They are usually horn-shaped, and reach lengths of two millimeters; as such, they are among the biggest known extant unicellular organisms….Stentor (ciliate)

Stentor are omnivorous heterotrophs. Typically, they feed on bacteria or other protozoans. Because of their large size, they are also capable of eating some of the smallest multicelluar organisms, such as rotifers.

Stentor assumes an oval or pear shape while swimming. At its larger end, Stentor has multiple ciliary membranelles spiraling around the region that leads to the mouth opening. It uses these cilia to sweep food particles into its cytostome.

Stentors, like most ciliates, are filter feeders; passively eating whatever happens to be swept in their direction. They normally eat bacteria and algae, though large stentors are reported to opportunistically eat rotifers or anything else that they can catch.

When attached to an organism, Stentor cells are trumpet-shaped. The algae consumes waste material from the Stentor organism and uses it in photosynthesis. Movement A stentor moves by beating the cilia that cover its body. Feeding A stentor waves the cilia around its mouth and sweeps in food….How does a Stentor get its energy?

The Blepharisma is a common ciliate found in most any pond. If it lives in bright sunlit ponds it is usually colorless. When exposed to an intense artificial light, the pink pigment emits a poisonous toxin that completely disintegrates the creature. Algal toxins are poisonous to humans and can kill you.

Like all ciliates, Blepharisma reproduce asexually, by binary fission, dividing transversally. Fission may occur spontaneously, as part of the vegetative cell cycle, or it may follow a sexual phenomenon called conjugation, a process through which genetic material is exchanged between cells.

Blepharisma feed on bacteria, algae, rotifers, other ciliates and smaller members of the same species. All species of Blepharisma are uniformly ciliated, with the cilia arranged in longitudinal rows. Each possesses a Macronucleus which can take a variety of forms depending on species and phase of life.

Is a Blepharisma autotrophic or heterotrophic? Volvox are protists that live in colonies, or groups of organisms living together. They are both autotrophs and heterotrophs. They use their eyespot to detect light when they undergo photosynthesis….What kingdom is Blepharisma?

As the name suggests, their bodies are covered in cilia, or short hairy protrusions. Cilia are essential for movement of paramecia. As these structures whip back and forth in an aquatic environment, they propel the organism through its surroundings.

The volvocine algae range in complexity from unicellular Chlamydomonas through colonial genera (such as Gonium, Pandorina, and Eudorina) to multicellular organisms and are capable of both asexual and sexual reproduction.

Volvox is a motile green algal colony composed of 500-50,000 cells arranged along the periphery of a hollow mucilaginous sphere. These large colonies are often visible with the naked eye. Strands of protoplasm hold the cells together and are more readily seen in young colonies of certain species.

Volvox are not directly harmful to humans. They are too small to present any harm to us and do not have any weapons or poisons that are capable of hurting us. On the other hand, Volvox are capable of forming algal blooms which can harm the ecosystem.

Volvox gets its green color due to the chloroplasts, which are used in photosynthesis.

The colony of volvox is called coenobium (if the colony having fixed number of cells). It is spherical in shape. Each colony has number of cells from 500 to 50,000. The interior of the colony is filled with mucilage. They are arranged to form polygonal shape in the colony.

Volvox is facultatively sexual and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. An asexual colony includes both somatic (vegetative) cells, which do not reproduce, and large, non-motile gonidia in the interior, which produce new colonies through repeated division. In sexual reproduction two types of gametes are produced.

Volvox is a photoautotroph, or an organism that produces its own biomass by utilizing light from the sun and inorganic materials such as carbon dioxide and minerals. Colonies of Volvox consume the sun’s energy through the process of photosynthesis and turn it into sugar.

Haploid life cycle occurs in green algae. Volvox, for example is a colonial green algae in which both male gametes and egg are produced in the 1n stage, which then fuse together to form a zygospore, an encysted zygote that is protected from the harsh conditions of the environment.