Bells
| Bells | ||||||||||||
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Bell animals (left) of undetermined species affiliation |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Vorticellidae | ||||||||||||
| Ehrenberg , 1838 |
The bell animals (Vorticellidae) are a family of unicellular organisms within the ciliate (Ciliophora).
features
The bell-shaped cell body is attached to a suitable surface with the long stem . They occur individually or in colonies .
When stretched out, they are over 0.1 millimeters long. They can pull their stem together to form a spiral .
Way of life
Bell animals live in fresh water . Even if this is dirty, you can find them there in large numbers. Mostly they sit on an aquatic plant , but they can also colonize the bodies of small and large aquatic animals.
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Bell animals mainly feed on bacteria , which they whirl up and ingest with the help of an eyelash line. Sometimes they detach themselves from the ground and swim around freely with rhythmically beating cilia (eyelashes), only to settle in a suitable place again soon.
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| Bell animals contracting and stretching. Vorticella campanula on the left , the “lily of the valley” ( Vorticella convallaria ) on the right . Please click on the picture to enlarge it. |
Systematics
Vorticella belongs to the solitary genera . A colony-forming genus is Carchesium .
literature
- Heinz Streble , Dieter Krauter : Life in a drop of water. Microflora and microfauna of freshwater. An identification book. 9th, revised and expanded edition. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-440-08431-0 .
