Colpoda
genus of protozoans
Colpoda is a genus of ciliates in the class Colpodea, order Colpodida, and family Colpodidae.
Description
Colpoda are distinctly reniform (kidney-shaped) and are strongly convex on one side, and concave on the other. The concave side often looks like a bite was taken out of it. Although they are not as well known as the paramecium, they are often the first protozoa to appear in hay infusions, especially when the sample does not come from an existing mature source of standing water.
Habitat
Colpoda are often found in moist soil and because of their ability to readily enter protective cysts will quite frequently be found in desiccated samples of soil and vegetation as well as in temporary natural pools such as tree holes.
They have also been found in the intestines of various animals, and can be cultured from their droppings.
Colpoda cucullus has been found inhabiting the surface of plants and seems to dominate the microfauna there. Several species of Colpoda have been found in the pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea, despite the presence of protease digestive enzymes in the liquid.
Colpoda also tends to be found in abundance where increased levels of bacteria offer an enriched food source. In commercial chicken houses, for example, they seemed to be ubiquitous but the species found vary widely from one location to the next, suggesting that these populations represent local soil and aquatic populations which migrated into the new habitat.
The public source identifies “Colpoda” as genus of protozoans. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Colpoda, genus and protozoans.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5149297. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Colpoda” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.