Stentor Coeruleus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Sentor coeruleus belongs to the Sentor family which is characterized by being a very large ciliate that measures 0.5 to 2 millimetres when fully extended. There is also a variety of other members of the Sentor family as well, such as Sentor polymorphus.

Stentor coeruleus specifically appears as a very large trumpet. It contains a macronucleus that looks like a string of beads that are contained within a ciliate that is blue to blue-green in color. Being that it has many myonemes, it has the ability to contract into a ball. It has the ability to swim while both fully extended or contracted.^[1]

Eating is accomplished using cilia that carry food into the ciliate's gullet.