Mastigamoeba, Schulze, 1874

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 : 484

Mastigamoeba cfr. simplex Kent, 1880 (fi gures 1a, 2a)

Description. Cell about 8 Mm long, with very fl exible amoeboid cell body. Pseudopodia are produced from the sides and posterior parts of the cell. With one emergent fl agellum, which is about 20 Mm long and thickened. The fl agellum is directed forwardly and beats sti ffl y. The nucleus is located in the anterior part of the cell. One cell observed.

Remarks. Kent (1880) reported this species as Mastigamoeb a simplex from freshwater sites. This species has been found at marine sites in subtropical and tropical Australia ( Larsen and Patterson, 1990; Bernard et al., 1999) with cell lengths from 5 to 21 Mm. This species was transferred to Mastigella by Lemmermann (1914) and by Larsen and Patterson (1990) because the nucleus is located away from the fl agellar apparatus. Generic and speci fi c boundaries in the pelobionts are often unclear because of polymorphism within species. Mastigamoeba schizophrenia Simpson et al., 1997 , which was described through the use of cultures, varies in cell shape and size, numbers of nuclei and whether or not the fl agellum is present ( Simpson et al., 1997a). Species of Mastigamoeba Schulze, 1874 have to date been distinguished from species of Mastigella Frenzel, 1897 by the close association between the nucleus and fl agellar apparatus in species of the former genus and the separation of the nucleus from the fl agellar apparatus in the latter genus ( Goldschmidt, 1907; Simpson et al., 1997a). In a recent study ( Bernard et al., 1999), it was noted that, although in M. simplex the bulk of the nucleus may be removed from the base of the fl agellum, there may still be a thin connection between them. Bernard et al. (1999) determined that mastigamoebid pelobionts should be assigned to Mastigamoeba if there was any connection between the nucleus and the base of the fl agellum and to Mastigella if there is no such connection. We have complied with this interpretation.