Ploeotia oblonga Larsen and Patterson, 1990

Lee, Won Je & Patterson, David J., 2000, Heterotrophic flagellates (Protista) from marine sediments of Botany Bay, Australia, Journal of Natural History 34, pp. 483-562 : 529

Ploeotia oblonga Larsen and Patterson, 1990

(fi gures 17c, 18i, j)

Description. Cell about 27 Mm long and 12 Mm wide, slightly fl attened; oblong, with two major grooves dorsally and three major grooves ventrally. The ridged median ventral groove is more prominent than the two lateral ones. Two fl agella of unequal length emerge from the fl agellar reservoir situated in the left-hand side of the cell. The anterior fl agellum is about the length of the cell and sweeps sideways with irregular waves. The posterior fl agellum is about twice the cell length and is thicker than the anterior fl agellum. The ingestion organelle has two rods, is well developed and extends almost to the posterior end. Moves by gliding. The nucleus is in the right-hand side of the cell and near the centre. One cell observed.

Remarks. Previous reported cell length is from 16 to 36 Mm; this species was found in marine sites in tropical Australia and Fiji ( Larsen and Patterson, 1990; Ekebom et al., 1996; Patterson and Simpson, 1996). Generally, our observations are in agreement with the original description of Larsen and Patterson (1990). We include records of one cell (fi gure 18j) which, although similar to P. oblonga , differs because the cell does not have lateral grooves and has lateral ridges. Further study is required to establish the identities of these taxa. Ploeotia oblonga is distinguished from other species of the genus by its size and by the strong rigid median ventral groove.