Dexiotricha elliptica was first described by Kahl in 1931 as Loxocephalus ellipticus. In 2014, Fan et al. transferred the species to the genus Dexiotricha on the basis of morphological investigations and renamed it Dexiotricha elliptica.

I find Dexiotricha elliptica quite frequently in the mud layer of decomposed leaves in Ulmisried and Purren pond. The ciliate is filled with granules, which are never ring-shaped in my specimens. Instead, the granules are mostly spherical or slightly asymmetrical in shape with a maximum diameter of 1.5 µm. Under the pellicle, the granules are arranged in longitudinal rows, as described by Kahl. IN my population the macronucleus was always located below the cell equator, and the contractile vacuole in the posterior fifth. I was also able to recognize the short canal between the contractile vacuole and the excretory porus on the ventral side, as drawn by Kahl (s. drawing 3 above).

Dexiotriche elliptica differs from the similar species Loxocephalus moniligranulatus and Dexiotricha granulosa mainly in the shape of the granules and the position of the contractile vacuole. In Loxocephalus moniligranulatus the contractile vacuole is located in the middle of the body and in Dexiotricha granulosa the granules are ring-shaped and the contractile vacuole is also located in the middle of the body.