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Species in this genus of oligotrichs retain chloroplasts in the algae they eat and profit from the photosynthesis of the 'stolen' chloroplasts. The tail is contractile and can stretch out hundreds of microns. The ciliate bounces around as if on a pogo stick
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Foissneridium constrictum (probably according to Sabine Agatha). Species orginally described as Conocylis constricta by Meunier (inset) from the Barents Sea. Specimens shown from the Chukchi Sea (Arctic). Left panel shows ventral side, right panel the dorsal side.
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Fauré-Fremiet's drawing from his 1914 description of the most bizarre oligotrich ever - Tontonia appendiculiformis - a mixotroph (eats phytoplankton and keeps the chloroplasts) with a pogo stick bouncing tail (hops around in the water).