Condylostoma Inquiry
CondylostomaCombo.jpg

This ciliate was found in Loughborough Lake, north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

This single-celled organism looks a great deal like a multi-cellular rotifer with its rings of cilia near its mouth.

Questions:

  • How does this single-celled ciliate move?
  • Can you think of other types of movement that are similar to the one you see here?
  • For what reasons do you think this critter needs to move?
  • How does this ciliate's movement compare to other single-celled organisms?
  • How are the cilia (the tiny hair-like fibers) arranged on the organism? Do the cilia in different locations have different functions?
  • Each cilia is tubular in shape. What other shape (metapattern) do groups of these cilia form? How do this new new shape function?
  • Can you find any cycles in the video? How do these cycles compare to other cycles you know about?
  • What is the advantage to this ciliate for having a tube-like shape? How does this critter use its shape?
  • What else can you find out about this critter?

Meanings:

Condylostoma:

condylo comes from the Greek word meaning rounded

-stoma comes from the Greek word for mouth

So, condylostoma means a critter with a rounded mouth.


More Information:

Go to the ciliates page for more information on these organisms.


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