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Protozoa on pondweed, light micrograph
Protozoa on pondweed. Light micrograph showing Elodea (Canadian pondweed) with the colonial protozoan Stentor polymorpha. Stentor is a trumpet-shaped protozoan, with a ring of cilia around the mouth of the trumpet 'funnel'. The cilia waft bacteria and prey, like small crustaceans, into this opening and down into the digestive system. Stentor has contractile fibres that allow it to change its shape. The colour is from green algae (zoochlorellae) in hosts in a symbiotic relationship. When sessile, Stentor secretes a gelatinous cement to form a colony, but it can also swim independently. Magnification: x5 when printed at 10 centimetres wide.
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