LOCOMOTION
Paramecium exhibits two type of movement, viz.(a) creeping movements, and (b) swimming movements.

(a) creeping movements. During creeping movements, Paramecium uses its cilia of the oral surface for movements and simply glides over the substratum. As the pellicle is thin and elastic, it can easily bend and move from one place to another. It can squeeze itself through a space narrower than itself, after which the body assumes its normal shape.

(b) Swimming movements. The animal can swim forwards and backwards, This type of movement is performed by fin hair-like protoplasmic processes covering the entire animal. The beating of cilia is controlled by the neuro motor apparatus. During locomotion, cilia first bend like a bow with a slight spiral twist, then they straighten out again. Waves of contraction and bending of cilia pass from one end to the other. This coordinated movement of cilia is called metachronal rhythm which brings about forward and backward locomotion. The animal swims in an elongated spiral path and the individual body rotates upon its own longitudinal axis.