Difflugia azerbaijanica  Snegovaya & Alekperov, 2005

Diagnosis.: Shell asymmetrical, with a well-defined bifurcation at the equatorial part into two halves. One half ends with two spines, while the wider second half has one spine. There are always three spines in total, two of which are closely positioned, with the third slightly apart. Shell covered with sand particles of varying shape and size, with smaller particles near the aperture. Shell contains 1-3 wide lobopodia and several contractile vacuoles.

Dimensions: Shell length (including spines) 160-180 µm; width 120-140 µm; pseudostome 80-90 µm; spines 20-25 µm.

Ecology: Freshwater. Found on aquatic plants in a small marginal lake in the Kurakchay river basin, Azerbaijan.

Remarks. According to Snegovaya and Alekperov (2005), “…this species is closely related to D. foissneri Chardez 1987 found in freshwater basins in Belgium (Chardez, 1987). Our species differs from it in smaller shell size, asymmetric location of larger spines and a well-defined bifurcation of the aboral shell part. In our opinion, Centropyxis marsupiformis described by Brazilian specialists (Velho and Lansac-Toha, 1996) from the high Parana river could be D. foissneri or D. azerbaijanica.”
Unfortunately, the authors did not describe the lateral shape of the shell, so correct identification cannot be made. One of the specimens described from Brazil is clearly not C. marsupiformis.

References: Snegovaya, N. and Alekperov, I., 2005. Fauna of testate amoebae of western Azerbaijan Rivers. Protistology 4(2): 149-183.