TYPE: Protista (Protozoan)
FAVORITE HANGOUT:Fresh and salt water; moist soil
LIKES:Eating bacteria and small protozoans.
MODUS OPERANDI:Vorticella attaches itself to plants and algae and sweeps food into its mouth-like opening at the top of the bell with hairlike structures called cilia (shown in yellow).
The fat bell sits on a thin, springy stalk that attaches the creature to objects in the water. By expanding and contracting on its stalk, Vorticella has wider latitude in feeding.
© Dennis Kunkel Microscopy
