Difflugia

Difflugia, a genus of Rhizopoda (q.v.) belonging to the family Arcellina (q.v.), common in the stagnant water "in ponds and ditches. It consists of a small amoeboid mass enclosed in a shell or carapace composed of grains of sand cemented together by a membranous secretion. There is an aperture at one end of the cell, and through this the finger-like processes or "pseudopodia" are extruded. The animal is little more than an Amceba (q.v.) protected by a layer of sand grains, and with the pseudopodia restricted to a single area. D. proteiformis is a common English species.