Description of Pleuronema chrysalis

Ciliate, body elongate-ovoid, compressed, from two to two and a half times as long as broad, convex above, slightly concave beneath, subsequently rounded at the two extremities. Oral opening situated near the centre of the ventral surface, followed by a tubular pharyngeal passage. The length of the cilia about one-half of the diameter of the body, in even longitudinal rows over the whole surface. Contractile vacuole anteriorly located. Nucleus spheroid, subcentral. Length of most cells 70 - 130 microns