GENERAL HISTOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Most ciliates are microscopic in size, but a few get as large as 4 mm in length (e.g. Stentor). Cilia are small hair-like structures that cover most ciliates during some stage of their life cycle. Cilia means “eye lash". The organisms may have different sized cilia.

Detailed explanation-2: -There are generally two major approaches used for identification of ciliates: the traditional method of live cell morphology, fixation, staining and morphometrics and, more recently, DNA-based methods. Nowadays, taxonomy is more focused on an integrative approach combining classical and molecular approaches.