Nebela barbata Leidy, 1874

Diagnosis: Shell colorless, pyriform with an elongated neck, composed of a mixture of oval, circular and elongate shell plates, with numerous short, fine spines projecting from the junctions of the shell plates. Spines often flattened against the shell and difficult to see; aperture oval and surrounded by a collar of organic cement, the inner margin of which has about eight tooth-like protrusions.

Dimensions: Shell length 96—106 µm; width 38—44 µm; depth 36—41µm; aperture 10—16 µm.

Habitat: Sphagnum vegetation.

Remarks: Cash (1909) noted that the spines were seldom seen on specimens from Britain. Hoogenraad and De Groot (1940) also noticed this phenomenon. The same was true for specimens from Ecuador which I could observe.