What is a Stentor organism?

What is a Stentor organism?

Stentor, genus of trumpet-shaped, contractile, uniformly ciliated protozoans of the order Heterotrichida. They are found in fresh water, either free-swimming or attached to submerged vegetation. Stentor assumes an oval or pear shape while swimming.

Is Stentor protozoa or algae?

protozoa
Stentor protists fall into the protozoa subgroup. Stentor, in this case, refers to the genus name. These organisms are most often found in lentic (i.e., non-flowing) freshwater environments.

Are stentors cannibals?

Above Stentor amethystinus with endosymbiotic algae and red-purple cortical granules 200X DIC microscopy. Stentors feed on many kinds of food including other ciliates, diatoms, small rotifers, worms, flagellates, bacteria and some are cannibals. They are efficient filter feeders.

Are Stentor protists?

Definition stentor: Stentor are protists with horn-shaped bodies. Stentor refers to the genus name. They are often called trumpet animalcule because they resemble the shape of a trumpet. Stentor are usually found in lentic freshwater environments made of still water such as ponds, marshes, ditches, lakes, and swamps.

What do stentors look like?

Stentor coeruleus is a very large trumpet shaped, blue to blue-green ciliate with a macronucleus that looks like a string of beads (dark connected dots on the left). With many myonemes, it can contract into a ball. It may also swim freely both extended or contracted.

Is a Stentor a plant or animal?

Stentor, sometimes called trumpet animalcules, are a genus of filter-feeding, heterotrophic ciliates, representative of the heterotrichs. They are usually horn-shaped, and reach lengths of two millimeters; as such, they are among the biggest known extant unicellular organisms….Stentor (ciliate)

How do Stentor reproduce?

Stentor typically reproduces asexually through binary fission. They can also reproduce sexually via conjugation.

How did Stentor get its name?

The name stentor is a reference to its trumpet shape and the herald in Greek mythology known for having a loud voice, while coeruleus describes the blue-green pigment specific to the species.

Is Stentor an algae?

Mixotrophic protists such as Stentor pyriformis (algae-retaining ciliate) and Mayorella viridis (algae-retaining amoeba) are frequently observed and documented as the dominant protist species in highland wetlands in Tohoku district, Japan, where average winter temperatures remain below freezing for a few months5.