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Clockwise from top right: Amoeba proteus, Actinophrys sol, Acanthamoeba sp., Nuclearia thermophila., Euglypha acanthophora, neutrophil ingesting bacteria. An amoeba (/ ə ˈ m iː b ə /; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; pl.: amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) / ə ˈ m iː b i /), [1] often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability ...
Cilia occur in all members of the group (although the peculiar Suctoria only have them for part of their life cycle) and are variously used in swimming, crawling, attachment, feeding, and sensation. Ciliates are an important group of protists , common almost anywhere there is water—in lakes, ponds, oceans, rivers, and soils, including anoxic ...
The surfaces of a variety of protozoa are covered with a layer of scales and or spicules. Examples include the amoeba Cochliopodium, many centrohelid heliozoa, synurophytes. The layer is often assumed to have a protective role. In some, such as the actinophryid heliozoa, the scales only form when the organism encysts.
Ciliates generally have hundreds to thousands of cilia that are densely packed together in arrays. Like the flagella, the cilia are powered by specialised molecular motors . An efficient forward stroke is made with a stiffened flagellum, followed by an inefficient backward stroke made with a relaxed flagellum.
Food enveloped by the Amoeba is stored in digestive organelles called food vacuoles. Amoeba, like other unicellular eukaryotic organisms, reproduces asexually by mitosis and cytokinesis. Sexual phenomena have not been directly observed in Amoeba, although sexual exchange of genetic material is known to occur in other Amoebozoan groups. [15]
Many different prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells can swim and many of these have either flagella or cilia for that purpose. These dedicated structures are not necessary for swimming, though, as there are amoeba and other eukaryotic cells which lack flagella and cilia but can still swim, although it is slower than crawling or gliding.
An amoeba of the genus Mayorella (Amoebozoa, Discosea). Amoebozoa is a large and diverse group, but certain features are common to many of its members. The amoebozoan cell is typically divided into a granular central mass, called endoplasm, and a clear outer layer, called ectoplasm.
Ciliates generally have hundreds to thousands of cilia that are densely packed together in arrays. Like the flagella, the cilia are powered by specialised molecular motors . An efficient forward stroke is made with a stiffened flagellum, followed by an inefficient backward stroke made with a relaxed flagellum.