paramecium lives in colonies or they can live alone like amoeba

Paramecium, like all protists, are single-celled organisms. Cells are the building blocks for all life forms. "Single-celled" means that a paramecium has only one cell for its entire body. Most plants and animals have more cells than you can count.

The inside of a paramecium is a jelly-like fluid called protoplasm. Bits of food and other materials float around in the protoplasm.

Paramecium are so tiny that you need a microscope to see them. They live in water, including lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, and puddles. Some can even live in the bodies of animals or in moist soil.

Pratt

It may be difficult to see in the pictures, but Paramecium have tiny hair-like things, called cilia, all around the outside of their cell. Cilia are important, because they are how Paramecium move. By beating the cilia back and forth, the Paramecium can move through the water. Protists with cilia, such as Paramecium, move much faster than other protists.

Like other protists, Paramecium usually attach themselves to the bottom of the pond or stream, or to a plant. Sometimes they "swarm." That means they all let go and swim around until they find a new place to attach.

Paramecium reproduce by a process called binary fission. This means the Paramecium can split in half and become two new Paramecium.

Paramecium eat algae, bacteria, other protozoans, dead plant and animal matter, and other tiny animals. They have something similar to a mouth, called a cytostome, to let food items into their bodies.

Some types of green algae can live inside the protoplasm of a Paramecium. Here, it takes nutrients from the Paramecium, but it also gives important nutrients as well.

Copyright, Biology Learning Center, Grand Rapids Community College

Y. Tsukii

Paramecium are eaten by other protists, as well as animals that eat plankton (microscopic organisms in the water), such as water fleas and mussels.