Ellipsopyxis lamottei Bonnet, 1974

Diagnosis: Shell clearly elliptical in dorsal view (Length/Width ratio approximately 1.2). In lateral view, a well-individualized ventral sole connecting in a regular curve to the lateral wall. In ventral view, a well-marked truncated invagination bearing at its summit a roughly elliptical pseudostome, very irregular, bordered by reworked siliceous elements. Covering formed of amorphous siliceous plates, reworked, very irregular, welded by a brownish cement.

Dimensions: Length mean 115 µm, SD 6.4 µm, width mean 97 µm, SD 5.3 µm (n=20).

Ecology: Very common species in hydromorphic savannah soil, in the rhizosphere of grasses but also present in gallery forest soils.

Remarks: Ellipsopyxis lamottei can easily be distinguished from the following two species:
Centropyxis ellipticus Decloître, which has a circular, regular, very slightly invaginated pseudostome and an almost entirely chitinoid shell;
Centropyxis transversa Bartos, whose plagiostome structure appears clearly in lateral view.