An actively motile organism, up to 300/&mw, hose pellicle possesses rows of longitudinally arranged cilia (Fig. 146). At the anterior end (here is a funnel-shaped depression, the pcristome, which leads to the cytostome or mouth: from this, food particles are passed to vacuoles in the cytoplasm and digested. Internally there are two nuclei, a reniform macronucleus and adjacent micronucleus, and two contractile vacuoles which regulate osmotic pressure