I’ve only been finding Lepocinclis hispidula in the Simmelried since 2019. Since then I find the species there regularly. Before that, I have no records and Lepocinclis hispidula is not present in my other sampling sites either.

The species was originally described as Phacus hispidulus (Lemmermann, 1910). In 2012, Phacus hispidulus was then transferred to the genus Lepocinclis by Bennet & Triemer on the basis of genetic analyses, together with some other Phacus species (e.g. Phacus horridus, s. “Synonyms” above).

Lepocinclis hispidula is easily recognized by its longitudinal rows of short spines on the pellicle (s. fig. 1 a-c). These have an almost square and rectangular base (s. fig. 4). In addition, the species has a conically shaped apex from which the flagellum originates. Many disc-shaped chloroplasts can be seen in the cell (s. fig. 1 b). Two large paramylon grains are said to be present, but I was unable to detect them. The cell wall of my specimens was either colorless or slightly yellow-brown in color. In my population I also found specimens with only a few rows of rudimentary spines (s. fig. 2 a-c). It is possible that these are daughter cells after a division has taken place.