VORTICELLA-HABITS AND HABITAT

VORTICELLA is a type of ciliate almost bell-shaped or campanulate with free anterior end surrounded by cilia.It is solitary and stalked ciliate often found in freshwater ponds,lakes rivers .There are 200 species all of which solitary.They occur in large groups but are never colonial. They can live only in uncontaminated waters where bacterial growth does not become too great.Some species are marine,or epizoic and are few parasitic.V.microstoma is the one which is more frequently seen in laboratory infusions.
SHAPE AND SIZE-It is bell-shaped asymmetrical body.The long contractile stalk. Both the body and the stalk are capable of great individual variations in size and form. The body of smaller V.microstoma measures 55 mew to 35mew. The largest species V.campanula in size with the lenght of 53 to 4150 mew.