The euglena is unique because it is sort of like a plant and also like an animal. It is pear shaped. It has a whippy tail called a flagellum that allows it to move through the water. The euglena is different than other protozoans because it has chlorophyll in it, the substance that plants contain to make their own food. The euglena is then able to make its own food like a plant when it is in the sunlight. When it is in darkness, however, it can get food like an animal. It takes in tiny plants and animals much like the ameba and paramecium. The euglena has a bright red eyespot which is sensitive to light and helps the euglena find light. The euglena reproduces by fission, splitting lengthwise in two. The flagellum goes with one part and the other part grows a new flagellum. When it is too hot or cold for a euglena, it forms a protective casing called a cyst around its body that protects it until conditions outside the cyst become better. http://tinyurl.com/22avjd Euglena is a genus of microscopic, one-celled organisms in the Protista kingdom. There are about 150 species of euglenas. They live in fresh water, and are especially common in warm seasons when they may form a green scum on the surfaces of small ponds or drainage ditches. Euglenas have spindle-shaped bodies, and range in size from 1/1000 to 1/100 of an inch (0.025 to 0.254 millimeter) long. Most species are green because they contain chlorophyll which allows them to produce food through photosynthesis for themselves, as well as serve as primary producers for aquatic ecosystems. Some species also eat tiny particles of living matter. Euglenas use a flagellum (a whiplike appendage) that sticks out from the body, to move and are thus categorized as flagellates. Euglena are commonly foundly in freshwater streams and ponds and make excellent specimens for study. They reproduce rapidly and can be studied under an ordinary microscope. http://tinyurl.com/6ih9

The Euglena is considered an algae although it can eat like an animal and has chloroplasts to get energy from the sun. Very efficient set-up.

The brilliant scientist refers to euglena ("yoo-GLEEN-ah) as "animals" and the encyclopedia says they are photosynthetic, unicellular, aquatic, motile, freshwater organisms, "characterized by the presence of chlorophyll, a reddish eyespot, and a single anterior flagellum...They resemble plants in that they have chloroplasts, but they also have gullets and lack cell walls, like animals." http://spikesworld.spike-jamie.com/science/microorganisms/c231-07-plant-animal.html