Protaspis gemmifera 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 : 544

Protaspis gemmifera Larsen and Patterson, 1990

(fi gures 22i, 23f -h)

Description. Cell outline oval or roundish, 9-16 Mm long and 9-11 Mm wide, dorso-ventrally fl attened. Cell surface is rather warty. Two fl agella insert subapically in an indistinct ventral furrow. The anterior fl agellum is as long as the cell and the posterior fl agellum is about 1.3-3 times the cell length. The posterior fl agellum inserts in an antero-posterio r line of the anterior fl agellum and trails behind the cell. The nucleus is situated anteriorly below the fl agellar insertion, has caps and is roundish. Reserve material may be present as oval or rod shaped bodies. Glides very fast with the anterior fl agellum. Produces pseudopodia from the ventral furrow. Sometimes commonly observed. Description based on observations of 33 cells.

Remarks. Generally, our observations agree with the original description of Larsen and Patterson (1990) although they did not refer to the warty surface. Protaspis gemmifera was recorded from Brazil and North Atlantic by Larsen and Patterson (1990) and Patterson et al. (1993), respectively. Cell lengths were previously reported as 10-17 Mm ( Larsen and Patterson, 1990; Patterson et al., 1993). Nuclear caps were not seen in any of the cells described by Patterson et al. (1993) but this character may have been overlooked because the nuclear caps may be di ffi cult to see in fast moving cells. Some cells did not have reserve materials in the posterior end of the cell, and reserve materials may not be useful as a diagnostic character although we have not seen the distinctive rod-shaped reserve materials in any species other than this one. Protaspis gemmifera resembles P. verrucosa Larsen and Patterson, 1990 in general appearance and length, but it has been distinguished by the longitudinal ventral furrow in P. verrucosa and the presence of nuclear caps in P. gemmifera . Figure 60b in Larsen and Patterson (1990), which is the type micrograph for P. verrucosa , shows some similarity to our cells in fi gure 23h. We are not sure whether these two species are clearly distinguishable. Protaspis gemmifera is probably detritivorous ( Patterson et al., 1993). The organism referred to as P. simplex by Tong et al. (1998) has probably been illustrated by pictures of P. gemmifera , but having consulted original records, we can con fi rm that both species were present.

The genus contains nine species: P. gemmifera Larsen and Patterson, 1990 , P. glans Skuja, 1939 , P. major Skuja, 1939 , P. metarhiza Skuja, 1939 , P. obovata Skuja, 1948 , P. obliqua Larsen and Patterson, 1990 , P. simplex Vørs, 1992 , P. tegere Larsen and Patterson, 1990 and P. verrucosa Larsen and Patterson, 1990 . The boundaries among many species are not clear (table 2), and this genus needs more attention.