Ciliate: Litonotus

Ciliates can be found anywhere there is water: lakes, ponds, rivers, soils - these were found in a plate in my yard, filled with rainwater and leaf debris.
About 4,500 unique species of ciliates has been described, but there is potential for tens of thousands more!
They primarily eat smaller organisms, like bacteria and algae, swept into the ciliate's mouth by the hair-like cilia that also propel them through the water.
We cannot see Litonotus without the help of a microscope. How tiny are they? They are often between 30-50 microns long, and 10-15 microns wide. (There are 1,000 microns in a millimeter; 10 millimeters in a centimeter, and 2.54 centimeters in an inch.) As seen in this video, Litonotus is quite a bit smaller than the paramecium swimming alongside in the water sample.
Filmed and photographed using a Tomlov DM202 Max digital microscope, with a water sample on a concave microscope slide.
Original music/video "Kanmon Strait" by My-Fi Saloon @my-fisaloon8370