I find Cristigera setosa very often in the upper mud layer. The species can easily be confused with Cyclidium, especially with Cyclidium heptatrichum. However, Cristigera setosa has two separate girdles of cilia at the posterior end, where the penultimate girdle consists only of single cilia and runs diagonally. In optical section this can give the impression of a separate, single cilia (s. figs. 2 b and 4). The cilia of the hindmost girdle are very long, almost as long as the caudal cilium. In addition, the cilia of the two posterior girdles are distinctly curved toward the anterior end. This is not the case in Cyclidium heptatrichum. Another feature of Cristigera setosa is a tooth-shaped projection on the right margin of the persistoma, which Kahl also drew (s. fig. 2 b and drawing above).

In my population the specimens were between 24 – 30 µm long. The globular macronucleus was in all specimens more displaced to the anterior end than Kahl has drawn it (s. drawing above). Depending on the nutritional state the specimens were slender oval or ovoid.