PHYLUM PROTOZOA
PHYLUM PROTOZOA
Protozoa are defined as single-
celled eukaryotic organisms that
feed heterotrophically and exhibit
diverse mechanisms of motility.
Protozoa also means 'little
animal'. They are named so
because many species act like
small animals.
General Characteristics
■ Most are unicellular organisms
(some are multi-cellular in a life
cycle)
■ Show evidence of intracellular
specialization- division of labor
in the cell
■ Mostly microscopic
General Characteristics
■ Protozoa do not have a
cell wall and therefore can
have a variety of shapes.
■ Their sizes range from 10
to 55 micrometers, but
they can be as large as 1
mm.
■ The largest protozoa are
called xenophyophores,
which can measure up to
20 centimeters in
diameter.
Types of Relationships:
■ Free living
■ Predator/Prey
■ Symbiotic: close interaction
between two organisms
– Mutualism: both benefit
– Commensalism: one
benefits and one is not
helped or harmed
– Parasitism: one benefits and
one is harmed
General Characteristics
■ Many contain a contractile vacuole-
functions in osmo-regulation;
removal of excess water from the
cytoplasm by osmosis
■ Protozoans digest their food in
spaces called vacuoles.
■ Can travel by air and water
General Characteristics
■ All types of modes of nutrition
are observed:
■ Autotrophic: organisms that can
make their own food
■ Heterotrophic: organisms that
obtain their food from an outside
source
■ Saprozoic: ingests nutrients that
are dissolved
General Characteristics
■ Protozoa reproduce by the
method of binary fission
or multiple fission.
■ Some of the members
reproduce by asexual
mode, some by sexual
means, and some by
both.
1. AMOEBOID PROTOZOANS OR
SARCODINES
■ They are unicellular, jelly-
like protozoa found in
fresh or sea water and in
moist soil.
■ They usually lack flagella
and have temporary
protoplasmic outgrowths
called pseudopodia for
locomotion.
■ AMOEBA
2. FLAGELLATED PROTOZOANS OR ZOOFLAGELLATES
■ They are free living, non-
photosynthetic flagellates
without a cell wall. They
possess flagella for
locomotion and capturing
prey.
■ Trypanosoma
FLAGELLATED
PROTOZOANS OR
ZOOFLAGELLATES
3. CILIATED PROTOZOANS OR CILIATES
■ Presence of numerous
cilia on the entire body
surface and the presence
of two types of nuclei. All
the cilia beat in the same
direction to move the
water laden food inside a
cavity called gullet.
■ Paramaecium, Vorticella
etc.
CILIATED
PROTOZOANS OR
CILIATES
4. SPOROZOANS
■ They include disease
causing endoparasites
and other pathogens.
They are uninucleate and
their body is covered by a
pellicle.
■ Plasmodium.
References:
■ [Link]
■ [Link]
protozoa/general-characteristics-of-protozoa
■ [Link]
■ [Link]
classification/146-describe-briefly-the-four-major-groups-of-protozoa
