Rhogostoma epiphylla

R. epiphylla: A-B same cell in two different focus layers. Scale bars: 10 µm. Abbreviations: a=aperture; cv=contractile vacuole; g=granules; no=nucleolus; nu=nucleus.

Rhogostoma epiphylla Flues, Hermanns and Dumack, 2017

Diagnosis: Shell roundish, length/width ratio about 1.2. Nucleus spherical, about 6.6 ± 1 µm, with one central spherical nucleolus. Aperture cleft-like. Easy to confuse with the slightly smaller (in mean test diameter) R. schuessleri, Belar 1921. Locomotion actively creeping, filopodia rarely extending to 30 µm. Prey mainly bacteria also algae and unicellular fungi. Cell division longitudinal, binary.

Dimensions: Shell 19 µm (range 15-27 µm).

Ecology: Leaf surface of Arabidopsis sp.; Cologne, Germany

References:

Dumack, K., Flues. S., Hermanns, K. and Bonkowski, M., 2017. Rhogostomidae (Cercozoa) from soils, roots and plant leaves (Arabidopsisthaliana): Description of Rhogostoma epiphylla sp. nov. and R. cylindrica sp. nov.; Eur. J. Protistol. 60: 76–86.

Ferry Siemensma, created March 3, 2019; last modified October 16, 2024