Description of Ciliophrys
provided by BioPedia
Colourless cells occurring in two different stages. Sessile (feeding) cells with granular 'tentacles over the entire cell surface. Flagellum inactive or moving very slowly in a figure-of-eight posture. Attached to a substrate with a very short stalk. The cell may change within a few minutes to a swimming condition, in which the tentacles are more or less retracted and the flagellum moves in a typical pedinellid fashion. The cell feeds on bacteria or very small protists which are caught on the tentacles, transported to the cell body and ingested; marine and fresh water.
