Quite often we find odd little critters under the microscope lens that defy identification despite best efforts. Often they have added appendages or shortened features that just don't fit what the identification keys are leading you to. This has happened to me a few times when, after watching a video about centrifuges, I spun the samples at 4000 RPM as described in the video. Apparently this is a no-no and eukaryotes should never, if you value their well being, be spun at more than 800 RPM. Other injuries can be sustained when transferring specimens from jar to slide and then there is the always dangerous cover slip. In the following video is a peritrich that is stuck in some fibers that I thought might be loricated (encased in a shell) peritrich but was unable to ID with the keys available to me. An internet ciliate expert, Bruce Taylor, suggested that it might be a distressed member of the order Sessilida. That got me thinking about checking out that particular jar for similar specimens and the mystery was solved. This was a peritrich that looked like a type of vorticella that had its stalk and myoneme broken off.
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