Light micrograph of a sessile or fixed rotifer Floscularia ringens attached to a waterweed. Rotifers are allied to roundworms. They are usually freshwater organisms, as in this case, though a few marine species are known. Floscularia builds a tapering tube (brown) from pellets of compacted debris, into which it retreats if disturbed. The lobed structures (top) form part of its ciliated mouth. The cilia, or fine hairs, trap particles of food drifting in the water, which are then past into the organism. The tube provides anchorage for smaller rotifers (two projections) & for eggs, three of which are seen at top right. Magnification x16 (at 35mm size). Microcosmos, p.53, fig. 3.20.

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