Typical for Raphidocystis are the numerous 10–30 µm long, needle-like silicate scales (spiculae), which are arranged tangentially in a mucilaginous sheath. This thick cuticle scatters light a lot, so it was not easy to get a sufficiently clear view of the centroplast and the nucleus. Unfortunately, the Fig. 2 don’t show the centroplast clearly. The centroplast is the origin and organizing center of the microtubules, which in bundles stabilize the axopodia, the radiating pseudopods of the heliozoa. This structure is characteristic for the order Centroplasthelida, to which the genus Raphidocystis belongs (Fig. 1–3).