Short answers, pulled from the story.
The cryptomonad uses a microscopic spring-loaded mechanism called an ejectosome to escape threats. This structure consists of two connected spiral ribbons held under immense tension that fire to propel the cell forward in a chaotic zig-zag course.
The nucleomorph is a tiny reduced cell nucleus found between the middle two membranes of the cryptomonad chloroplast. It serves as the remnant of a eukaryotic symbiont specifically a red alga that was engulfed by an ancestor of the cryptomonad long ago.
The color of the cryptomonad ranges from brown and red to blueish-green based on the specific arrangement of chlorophylls a and c and phycobiliproteins. These pigments are located within the thylakoid lumen rather than on the surface to maximize photosynthetic efficiency.
Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg first described the cryptomonad in 1831. Since that date the classification has been debated and reclassified multiple times based on new genetic and morphological evidence.
The flagella of the cryptomonad are covered with bipartite hairs known as mastigonemes. These hairs are formed within the endoplasmic reticulum and transported to the cell surface to give the organism a distinctive appearance under the electron microscope.
Some cryptomonad species form immotile microbial cysts with rigid cell walls to survive periods of environmental stress. Other species like Cryptomonas can enter a palmelloid stage where they become encased in a surrounding mucus until conditions improve.