A biological indicator?
Different species of ciliates thrive under different environmental conditions.
In organically polluted freshwaters the types of ciliates that dominate at different concentrations of organic compounds is predictable. This means that ciliates can be used as reliable indicators of pollution.
The saprobic system is a method for classifying freshwater bodies using organisms to indicate the level of organic pollution present.
Pseudomicrothorax dubius often thrives in organically polluted waters. It is therefore thought to be an indicator of α-mesosaprobic conditions - moderate-to-heavy organic pollution (Alekperov, 1982).
Toolbox
The Museum's smallest members of staff are our flesh-eating beetles, Dermestes maculates, who strip carcasses to the bone.