Spirotrichea

Intramacronucleate ciliates, may have somatic dikinetids usually with the anterior or both kinetosomes ciliated or somatic polykinetids; generally, with conspicuous right and left oral and/or preoral ciliature, with left serial oral polykinetids leading (usually clockwise) into the oral cavity, either around a broad anterior end or along anterior and left margins of the body; polykinetids (undulating membranes) may also be present along the right side of the oral region; the cytostome is deep in some groups and shallow in others; the body is ciliated in some groups, but nearly devoid of cilia in others; some are loricate, others are not; the lorica may be attached to substrate or not.