Loxodes striatus is one of the most common ciliates in my samples. It is found in all my sampling sites with a layer of mud and decaying leaves. It often occurs in very large numbers and sometimes there are mass developments where Loxodes striatus is the dominant species in the samples (s. fig. 1).

Often Loxodes striatus is found together with the two other species Loxodes rostrum and Loxodes magnus in the samples. From the body shape, the three species look similar, due to the curved, beak-shaped anterior end. However, these species can be confidently distinguished by their nuclear apparatus. In Loxodes striatus, two widely separated, spherical macronuclei are present, each with a densely attached micronucleus (s. figs. 4 b and 5 a). Thereby the micronuclei are facing each other. In Loxodes rostrum the two macronuclei lie close together with one micronucleus between and in Loxodes magnus many macronuclei are distributed in the cytoplasm.

The members of the genus Loxodes have specially constructed Müller vesicles arranged in a row at the dorsal side (s. fig. 4 a). These are constant vacuoles, in which a druse of barium sulfate crystals sits on a cytoplasm stalk (s. fig. 6). It is assumed that this organelle serves for orientation in the water body, similar to an organ of balance. Loxodes striatus has 4–12 of these organelles. They are easily recognized by the highly refractive barium sulfate crystals that shine brightly in the DIC (s. figs. 4a and 5a). As another peculiarity, Loxodes has no contractile vacuole (Patterson, 1979), which I find very remarkable. To my knowledge, the way Loxodes striatus regulates its water balance is not known so far.