This ciliate prefers the filamentous blue-green cyanobacteria Oscillatoria formosa as food. It ingests the filaments with its cytopharyngeal basket. The rigid cell walls of the cyanobacteria are dissolved rapidly by enzymes so that the ciliate can ingest large amounts of food in a short time. The structure and function of the cytopharyngeal basket are illustrated by electron micrographs and animated pictures.