Tiny, but Deadly

Hastigerinella digitata's many spines support sticky, hair-like “fishing lines” made from cytoplasm (the living part of a cell – mostly fluid, salts and proteins) that entangle prey.
(© 2014 KJ Osborn, Smithsonian )

This single-celled organism is a small, but ambitious predator. Its many spines support sticky, hair-like “fishing lines” made from cytoplasm (the living part of a cell – mostly fluid, salts and proteins) that entangle prey. Hastigerinella digitata then reels in the animal, often a crustacean, allowing its cytoplasm to invade the body, digest all the live tissue and dump the empty shell. Not bad for a one-celled animal. See more images of mid-water creatures in our slideshow.