Microworld

world of amoeboid organisms

Amphitrema wrightianum
Amphitrema wrightianum, 52 µm

Amphitrema wrightianum Archer, 1869

Diagnose: Test ovoid, symmetrical, more or less compressed; composed of a transparent membrane, with adherent foreign bodies; two apertures at opposite poles; nucleus central; one to several contractile vacuoles; straight filopodia, sparsely branched, radiating; apertures provided with short tube like external collars. Zoochlorellae present.

Dimensions: Length 61-95 µm.

Ecology: In wet or submerged Sphagnum vegetation. I found ample specimens in a quaking bog along the Bert Bospad, The Netherlands.

Remarks: This genus is together with genus Archerella closely related to the Labyrinthulidae. It has been transferred to Stramenopiles by Gomaa et al. (2013).

Amphitrema wrightianum
Amphitrema wrightianum, Vosges, France
Amphitrema wrightianum
Amphitrema wrightianum, with tubular poles and filopodia, Tirol, Austria – Photomicrograph: Angie Opitz
Amphitrema wrighthianum
Amphitrema wrightianum, with short filopodia, Tirol, Austria – Photomicrograph: Angie Opitz
Amphitrema wrightianum
Empty shell, composed of a large numer of small elements – Bert Bospad, Netherlands
Amphitrema wrightianum
Amphitrema wrightianum, empty shell, 53 µm – Bert Bospad, Netherlands
Amphitrema wrightianum
Amphitrema wrightianum, pseudostomes arrowed – Vosges, France
Amphitrema wrightianum
Amphitrema wrightianum, empty shell, 61 µm – Bert Bospad, Netherlands
Ferry Siemensma, created February 28, 2019; last modified January 31, 2021
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