Galeripora naiadis, González-Miguéns & Soler-Zamora & Villar-Depablo & Todorov & Lara, 2022

González-Miguéns, Rubén, Soler-Zamora, Carmen, Villar-Depablo, Mar, Todorov, Milcho & Lara, Enrique, 2022, Multiple convergences in the evolutionary history of the testate amoeba family Arcellidae (Amoebozoa: Arcellinida: Sphaerothecina): when the ecology rules the morphology, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 194 (4), pp. 1044-1071 : 1064-1065

GALERIPORA NAIADIS GONZÁLEZ- MIGUÉNS, SOLER- ZAMORA, VILLAR- DEPABLO, TODOROV & LARA, SP. NOV.

( FIG. 5 )

Z o o b a n k r e g i s t r a t i o n: u r n: l s i d: z o o b a n k. org:act: A6005873-8045-40E2-B0E1-DE073A2EC66B.

Specific diagnosis: Test diameter 139.20–153.80 µm, average of 146.78 µm (N = 21); aperture 48.70– 59.10 µm, average 53.76 µm (N = 21). Colour ranges from transparent to yellow-orange. The test has a discoid, flattened shape. The edges of the test are somehow curved, giving the whole test a concave outlook, like a bowl.

The aboral side of the test is flat. Building units can be partially covered with a proteinaceous matrix preventing the observation of these units. When this proteinaceous matrix is absent, small pores can be observed at the vertices of the building units, which are then located on both the aboral and oral sides. The oral side presents an aperture invaginated outwards forming a short ring or lip surrounded by many small pores.

Intraspecific variability: The number of pores at the base of the test and the degree of coverage by the organic matrix can be variable. There may be certain deformations in the test that prevent it from having a perfectly circular morphology.

Differences: Galeripora naiadis can be diagnosed by its specific sequences of the mtDNA markers and by its phylogenetic placement. Differs morphologically from other species closely related to Galeripora polypora by presenting (1) morphometric differences (see Morphometrics and morphology; Fig. 2 ) and (2) by its concave outlook.

Habitat: Submerged vegetation, Ceratophyllum submersum , in an artificial lake.

Type locality: Bulgaria: Sofia, Sofia Southern Park (42°39’N 23°18’E).

Etymology: The name is derived from the Greek Ναϊάδες, the Naiads, who were female spirits or nymphs who ruled the rivers in Ancient Greek mythology. We propose this name to refer to the ecology of this species – pristine freshwater environments.

Figures

Figure 2. A, scatterplot of the scores of linear discriminants with x-axis representing discriminant function 1 (LD1) and y-axis representing discriminant function 2 (LD2). Colours represent the different mitochondrial clades and symbols refer to the different sections after Deflandre (1928): squares are for Section 1 ‘Vulgares’, circles for Section 2 ‘Carinatae’ and triangles for Section 3 ‘Aplanatae’. The drawings represent the different morphotypes. B, the table represents the results of a linear discriminant analysis which determines the relationship between predicted and observed specimens cells for each mitochondrial clade.

Figure 5. Galeripora naiadis, Galeripora bathystoma and Galeripora polypora: scanning electron micrographs of the aboral and oral sides of the test, for G. naiadis the images correspond with pictures of Arcella discoides in Todorov & Bankov (2019). The images on the right represent a detail of the test and the structure of the aperture. On the left, a photograph of a typical habitat for each species, original drawing of the closest resembling species Galeripora discoides (Ehrenberg, 1843), and original drawing of Galeripora bathystoma (Deflandre, 1928) and Galeripora polypora (Penard, 1890).