What is going on here? Looks like Halteria doing something

[Lilly Begonia]

I've come across a dozen such images today, of what looks like Halteria or something close to it attached to a large bubble, and perhaps getting ready to reproduce. I'm not sure. I've seen at least a dozen of these happening on one slide. Very interesting!

[Bruce Taylor]

Halteria normally has a girdle of stiff "jumping bristles" around its middle, which give it a distinctive style of movement (they can hop so quickly they appear to be teleporting). The bristles might just be hidden, but I suspect this little guy is actually not a Halteria, but a somewhat-swollen oligotrich ciliate of some kind. The bubble is definitely not normal...this critter is having serious trouble shedding excess fluid (i.e. problems with "osmoregulation"). Give it a little longer, and it will explode.

[Lilly Begonia]

Halteria normally has a girdle of stiff "jumping bristles" around its middle, which give it a distinctive style of movement (they can hop so quickly they appear to be teleporting). The bristles might just be hidden, but I suspect this little guy is actually not a Halteria, but a somewhat-swollen oligotrich ciliate of some kind. The bubble is definitely not normal...this critter is having serious trouble shedding excess fluid (i.e. problems with "osmoregulation"). Give it a little longer, and it will explode.

Well I am seeing dozens of examples of this from my sample on every slide, and that sample is a well aged one. I'm thinking I'll add water to it and try to save the little guys.

[Bruce Taylor]

Well I am seeing dozens of examples of this from my sample on every slide

Yeah, they're definitely not liking something about those conditions. That's another reason to think they're some kind of oligotrich, by the way...Halteria looooove foul, stale, stagnant bacteria-rich water.