Meisterfeldia wegeneri, Bobrov, 2016

Bobrov, Anatoly, 2016, Description of a New Testate Amoebae Genus Meisterfeldia with Notes on the Systematics of the Suborder Phryganellina (Amebozoa; Tubulinea; Arcellinida), Acta Protozoologica 55 (4), pp. 211-219 : 214-215

Meisterfeldia wegeneri sp. nov.

Description: Shell small, bilaterally symmetrical, ovate, rather wide in plane, flattened, colorless, trans- parent. Dorsal side convex, posterior end shifted to ventral side. Aperture elliptical, subterminal, anterior end with the aperture curved towards ventral side. Shell surface smooth, without mineral inclusions ( Figs 4 , 5 ).

Measurements ( Table 1): Shell length 6.00–10.50 µm; shell breadth 4.00–7.75 µm; shell depth 4.00–5.00 µm; axis of aperture 3.25–4.25 µm.

List of associated testate amoebae. The species was found in associations with the following species (occurrence, %): Cryptodifflugia oviformis f. fusca (26.70); Trinema lineare (10.86); Centropyxis sylvatica (9.50); Trinema complanatum v. platystoma (8.60); Centropyxis aerophila (4.52); Cryptodifflugia bassini (4.07); Wailesella eboracensis (4.07); W. sp. (4.07); Trimena complanatum (3.62); Schoenbornia humicola (3.17); Euglypha laevis (3.17); E. cristata (2.71); Heleopera petricola v. amethystea (1.36); Assulina muscorum (1.36); Meisterfeldia chibisovi sp. nov. (0.91); Nebela tincta (1.36); N. militaris (0.90); Centropyxis constricta (0.90); Cyclopyxis eurystoma (0.90); Meisterfeldia wegeneri sp. nov. (0.90); Bullinularia gracilis (0.45); Heleopera rosea (0.45); Hyalosphenia minuta (0.45); H. subflava (0.45); Argynnia dentistoma (0.45); N. parvula (0.45); Valkanovia elegans (0.45); Corythion dubium v. minima (0.45); Cryptodifflugia . minuta (0.45); Archerella flavum (0.45); Meisterfeldia polygonia sp. nov. (0.45); Meisterfeldia vanhoornei comb. nov. (0.45); Euglypha filifera v. magna (0.45); Centropyxis cf. aculeata (0.45).

Type locality: Polygonal tundra, 28 km northwestward of Chokurdakh settlement (Yakutia). 70°49′55.4″N 147°28′39.1″E. Biotope: Sphagnum , peat tussock, microelevation in the center of the testing area. Vegetation: Carex chordorrhiza, Andromeda polifolia, Salix myrtilloides , Ledum decumbens , Carex stans, Polytrichum commune, Sphagnum sp. Soil – Sphagnic Fibristel ( US ST).

Type specimen: Laboratory of Soil Bioindication, Department of Soil Geography, Faculty of Soil Science , Lomonosov Moscow State University , slide No. 2-2015 .

Etymology: The species was named in honor of Alfred Wegener, a German geophysicist who developed the theory of continental drift, an investigator of the Arctic. The Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, was named in his honor.

Related species – similarities and differences: The species differs from Meisterfeldia chibisovi in the elliptical shape of pseudostom, in a wider shell (the length/ width ratio is 1.98 in Meisterfeldia chibisovi and 2.47 in Meisterfeldia wegeneri ), in the lateral compression (1.02 in Meisterfeldia chibisovi and 1.51 in Meisterfeldia wegeneri ), and in the absence of pseudostomal neck.

Figures

Fig. 4. Light microscopical image of Meisterfeldia wegeneri in lateral view. A – typical specimen, B – morphological variability.

Fig. 5. Outline of Meisterfeldia wegeneri: lateral (left) and ventral (right) views. 1–4 – characters of the test measured. Scale bar: 5 µm.