Pompholyxophrys punicea
Pompholyxophrys punicea Archer, 1869
Diagnosis: Cell spherical, coated with two or three layers of spherical siliceous perles. Dried perles with a regular smooth outline. Filopodia fine and short, emerging through the layer of perles. Cytoplasm usually reddish, oft with large foodvacuoles. Nucleus spherical with central nucleolus. Fast rolling movement.
Dimensions: Cell with periplast 24-65 µm; perles 1.0-7.5 µm.
Habitat: Fresh water, common in clear water and wet Sphagnum, specially in summertime; recorded from Europe. North and South-America, Malaysia. I have found this species at several locations in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, usually in clear water with Sphagnum contact.
References: Siemensma (1991), Rainer (1968).
Pompholyxophrys punicea, the same cell, Laegieskamp, 2019
Pompholyxophrys punicea – SEM Photomicrograph Eckhard Voelcker
Pompholyxophrys punicea – SEM Photomicrograph Eckhard Voelcker
Pompholyxophrys punicea, single scale element – SEM Photomicrograph Eckhard Voelcker
Wet Sphagnum
Pompholyxophrys punicea, both from the same sample, body 47 and 29 µm
Cell 40 µm, with nucleus clearly visible, and cell 23 µm
from Bert Bospad, the Netherlands