Euglypha castrii  Bonnet, 1966

Diagnosis: Shell ovate in side view and elliptical in cross section. Pseudostome circular or slightly elliptical, bordered by 8 or 9 scales with a very broad median tooth, flanked by two barely visible lateral teeth. In reality, the inner surface of that center tooth bears one tooth and two or four extremely thin lateral teeth. Plate-scales elongate whose rather angular shape tends to an elongated hexagon. 8 rows of scales are visible in width and 9 in length. The scales are larger (6.5 x 10.5 µm) in the center of the shell and their longitudinal overlap is clearly more pronounced than the transverse overlap.

Dimensions: Shell length 76—80 µm; width 34—37 µm; diameter of pseudostome 23 µm.

Habitat: Soil. Acidic humic environments.

Distribution Europe, Croatia.

Remarks: Bonnet, 1966: “The buccal scales of E. castrii are somewhat reminiscent of those of E. pseudotuberculata Decloitre. However, the number of buccal scales and the circular portion of the shell in the latter makes it easy to distinguish the two species.”

It’s amazing that Bonnet drew two tiny needle-like spines on the two side teeth. Even with a planapo 60x oil 1.4 objective, which I used, it is impossible to see these tiny spines, due to the limited resolution of the light microscope.