A Virtual Pond Dip

Note: If visiting this page directly, it is designed to be used with the virtual dip in the jar of pond water.

Stentor (single-celled)         Further details: Stentor - an introduction

Name (genus): Stentor Size : Up to 2 - 3 mm long Where to find them : Attached to plants/algae and planktonic. Notes : One of the largest freshwater protozoans and larger than some multi-celled pond animals. When it is attached to a surface, it adopts the trumpet shape shown and the ring of cilia around the trumpet rim draw in water, together with the smaller organisms on which the Stentor feed. When the Stentor swims it adopts an oval shape. The Stentor is often green in colour because of the algae (single-celled plants) associated with it. Like other large single celled creatures (e.g. amoebas) they have many nuclei. In Stentor you can see the nuclei as a 'string of pearls'. The large sphere is a water expelling vesicle. The cell is covered with tiny hair-like 'cilia'. Classification : Kingdom Protoctista, Phylum Ciliophora Return to the Pond Dip