I find Discomorphella pectinata exclusively in the Simmelried, where the species occurs frequently and regularly. In August 2018, there was a mass development of Discomorphella pectinata with a concentration of about 1000 specimens per milliliter (s. fig. 1). Such mass developments did not occur before or after.

Discomorphella pectinata is unmistakable due to its abstract, asymmetrical shape. In addition to the frontal spine (S1), there are two long, curved spines on the right side (S2, S3) and another short, curved spine (S4) on the left side, which is attached to the separated part of the interrupted perizonal stripe (s. figs. 2 a-c, 3 a-b and 4). The ciliation is reduced to the perizonal stripe, which runs across the ventral side (s. fig. 5 a), a dorsal tuft of cilia and a short ventral row of cilia (s. fig. 6). This makes Discomorphella pectinata a slow and clumsy-looking swimmer. Numerous symbiotic bacteria can be found in the cytoplasm. I was able to identify at least two species (s. fig. 7). Thicker rods with a length of approx. 9–16 µm and thin rods with a length of 6–9 µm. This combination of symbiotic bacteria is also found in other anaerobic ciliates.