Question

I've been searching the internet and I feel a little stupid now but I can't find three names of protists from the phylum Ciliophora that's not Paramecium putrinum... help?

Answer 1

The most well-known ciliate is probably Paramecium caudatum. You've probably seen it in class.

There are lots of sessile ciliates too, including Stentor (a large trumpet-shaped ciliate). Watch this short video (seriously, it's a good video) to see a few different sessile ciliate species: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEwlo4tTh-M

Suctorians (a sub-category containing several genera and species) are sessile ciliates, but they don't actually have cilia in their adult form. Instead, they catch food with special tentacles. When they want to asexually reproduce, they build a ciliated swarmer (a larva of sorts), sometimes inside a pouch inside the cell, and set it free to find a new place to live. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suctoria

These little fellows are neat as well: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/species-of-the-day/scientific-advances/bio-control/pseudomicrothorax-dubius/index.html They have highly specialised mouths and eat filaments of cyanobacteria just like spaghetti.

There are also some interesting predatory ciliates. The most well-known one is probably Didinium, which hunts, poisons and eats Paramecia. There are a few different species in the Didinium genus, but you can look that up yourself.

Answer 2

Here's a video of Pseudomicrothorax dubius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5QO4yrY7w4 Just look at the little guy go!

Answer 3

Thanks(: