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Specimen
080
Frontonia is a genus of free-living unicellular ciliate protists, belonging to the order Peniculida. As Peniculids, the Frontonia are closely related to members of the genus Paramecium. However, whereas Paramecia mainly feed on bacteria, Frontonia are capable of ingesting large prey such as diatoms, filamentous algae, testate amoebas, and even, in some circumstances, members of their own species. Their bodies are typically ovoid or elongate, and somewhat flattened from back to front. They are flexible, uniformly ciliated, and usually surrounded by hair-like trichocysts. The small oral aperture is pear-shaped, and located in the anterior half of the cell.Along the left side of the opening there are three membranelles, and the right has a single paroral membrane. The mouth is supported by inconspicuous microtubular rods (nematodesmata), and may expand during feeding to as much as two-thirds of the cell's length. |