Cell with slit like aperture, gliding with filopodia

Ventricleftida?

I found two specimens of this amoeboid in fresh water sediments of the Kromme Rade, the Netherlands. Both cells were more or less haert shaped or triangle spaped, with a long furrow, a slit-like aperture. From this furrow some branching filopodia emerged. One specimen retracted its filopodia in bright light and started to swim away with a rotational movement. There were two cilia present. The cell membrane was smooth. Nucleus spherical with an central nucleolus, located in the posterior region of the cell.
At first I thought it was a Rhogostoma species, but cilia are not known for this genus.

The shape of the cell is that of a heart shaped pouch with a zipper.
Ferry Siemensma, created March 3, 2019; last modified February 01, 2021
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