Description of Euplotes patella

Large (110 microns long, 65 microns wide) oval freshwater hypotrich ciliate that has a blunt posterior end. The peristome is large, wide and almost triangular in appearance extending just over halfway down the length of the body. The abdoral membranelle zone is narrow, evenly curved and contains 44- 50 membranelles. The dorsal argyrome is of the double-patella type with 9 dorsolateral kineties containing about 13-26 cilia in the mid-dorsal rows. There are 9 frontoventral, 5 strong transverse and 4 caudal cirri. The macronucleus is an open C-shape with slightly pointed extremities. The upper arm points down slightly and bears several indentations. The micronucleus is situated anteriorly.