feeding, long exposure

Description:

Vorticella (vort-ee-sell-a) the iconic peritrich ciliate. The feeding cells in sessile peritrich ciliates have lost all of the somatic cilia and only have the feeding cilia. The feeding cilia form a wreath which extends around the front of the cell and descends into a narrowing buccal cavity. This image was taken with a long exposure and illustrates the currents created by the action of the feeding cilia of a single cell. Modified dark ground, long exposure.