Balantidium coli
Balantidium coli
Taxonomy
- Kingdom Protozoa
- Phylum Ciliophora
- Class Litostomatea
- Order Trichostomatorida
- Family Balantidiidae: Genus Balantidium
Final host
Pig, human and primates
dog (rarely), rat
Morphology
Trophozites have an ellipsoidal body (≈ 60 - 150 µm) with a ciliated surface and a funnel-shaped depression at the anterior end, the peristome, which leads to the cytostome Internally there are an elongate macronucleus, an adjacent micronucleus and two contractile vacuoles. Cysts are spherical to ovoid (≈ 40-100 µm)
Cycle
Direct (faecal-oral route)
Location
Large intestine
Feeding
Holozoic (cytostome)
Diagnostic
Cyst and trophozoyte
Transmission
Cyst
