I have found Gyropaigne kosmos so far exclusively in the Simmelried, mainly between decaying plants. Due to its distinct ribs, which run clockwise in a spiral, this flagellate is conspicuous even at low magnifications. Together with other saprophytic genera like Rhabdomonas or Menoidium it belongs to the Euglenophyceae. Often the cells are heavily filled with paramylon grains and shine brightly in DIC, while appearing black in brightfield illumination. In my experience, the cells are quite coverslip sensitive and quickly shed the flagellum. As Skuja described it, the longitudinal ribs always have small paramylon grains arranged in rows (s. fig. 1c).