vorticellas

1 definition found

vorticellas - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Vorticella \Vor`ti*cel"la\, n.; pl. E. Vorticellas, L.
     Vorticellae. [NL., dim. fr. L. vortex. See Vortex.]
     (Zool.)
     Any one of numerous species of ciliated Infusoria belonging
     to Vorticella and many other genera of the family
     Vorticellidae. They have a more or less bell-shaped body
     with a circle of vibrating cilia around the oral disk. Most
     of the species have slender, contractile stems, either simple
     or branched.
     [1913 Webster]