On some testacids (Protozoa)
of Melghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Maharashtra, India
L. Bindu
Zoological
Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700053, India
E-mail: bindulajapathi@yahoo.com
Date of publication (online): 26 April 2010
Date of publication (print): 26 April 2010
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: A.K. Das
Manuscript details:
Ms # o2007
Received 19 June 2008
Final received 16 November 2009
Finally accepted 09 February 2010
Citation: Bindu, L. (2010). On
some testacids (Protozoa) of Melghat
Wildlife Sanctuary, Maharashtra, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(4): 827-830.
Copyright: © L. Bindu 2010. Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium
for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate
credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: The author is
grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for facilities; and to Mr.
N. Vasudevan, Joint Director, Social Forestry
Department, Amaravathi Division for the generous help
and co-operation.
Melghat Wildlife
Sanctuary located in Amaravathi District of
Maharashtra State is spread over an area of 788.75km2. Melghat
literally means the meeting point of hills and this large compact block of
hills is endowed with diverse flora and fauna. There is a dearth of information on protozoa of Melghat Wildlife Sanctuary and hence collections were made
from three spots, viz., Semodah, Makhala
and Kolkaz.
Of the ten species of testacids (freeliving protozoa) reported here, nine species are new
records to Maharashtra and one species is reported for the first time from
India.
Systematic
account
Phylum:
Sarcomastigophora
Class:
Lobosea
Order:
Arcellinida
Three
families are dealt under this order.
Family:
Microcoryciidae
Genus:
Amphizonella
Greeff
Diagnosis: Test membraneous with a double marginal contour; inner membrane
smooth, well defined; outer serrulate, aperture
inverted, a single nucleus; pseudopodia blunt, digitate
and divergent.
1. Amphizonella
violacea Greeff
1959. Amphizonella violacea Greeff; Deflandre, Rhizopoda and Actinopoda (In: Freshwater
Biology, Chapter 9: 235 ed.
Edmondson.)
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 1ex. Semodah, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Protoplasm
violet-tinted with chlorophyllous corpuscles and
grains; one nucleus; test patelliform.
Remarks: First
report from India.
Family:
Arcellidae
Genus:
Pyxidicula
Ehrenberg
Diagnosis: Test patelliform; rigid, transparent, punctuate; aperture
circular, almost the entire diameter of the test; cytoplasm similar to that of Arcella; a single
nucleus; one or more contractile vacuoles.
2. Pyxidicula
operculata (Agardh) Ehrenberg
1919. Pyxidicula operculata: Cash and Wailes,
The British freshwater Rhizopoda and Heliozoa. 4, p.18, figs. 164-168.
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 2exs. Kolkaz, freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test
smooth, brown; a single vesicular nucleus; pseudopodia short.
Distribution: India:
West Bengal
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
Family:
Centropyxidae
Genus:
Centropyxis Stein
1859. Centropyxis Stein, Abh. K. Bohm. Gesellsch.
Wiss., 10: 43.
1929. Centropyxis Deflandre :
Arch. Protistenkd., 67: 322.
Diagnosis: Test dorsoventrally flattened, spheroidal
at posterior portion and tapering towards apertural
region; oral aperture eccentric or ventral, typically invaginated
without a raised rim.
3. Centropyxis
ecornis
(Ehrenberg, 1841) Leidy, 1879
1841. Arcella ecornis Ehrenberg, Ahb.
Akad. Wiss. Berlin, P.368.
1879. Centropyxis ecornis Leidy, Freshwater Rhizopods
of North America, pl. 30. figs. 20-24.
1929. Centropyxis ecornis, Deflandre, Arch.
Protistenkd., 67, P.359.
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 4exs.,
Makhala, freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: In ventral
view test discoidal or largely elliptical, sometimes
irregular in outline, without any spine and covered with quartz grains; in
lateral view dorsal surface slightly arched and slightly more elevated at posterior
part, aperture usually circular, sometimes irregularly lobed and much
eccentric.
Distribution: India:
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West
Bengal.
Remarks: First report
from Maharashtra.
4. Centropyxis
spinosa (Cash
& Hopkinson, 1905) Deflandre, 1929.
1905. Centropyxis
aculeate var. Spinosa Cash and
Hopkinson, The British Freshwater Rhizopoda and Heliozoa, 1, P. 135.
1905. Centropyxis spinosa (Cash and Hopkinson) Deflandre,
Arch. Protistenkd., 67. p. 353.
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 3exs.,
Makhala, freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test
brownish, more or less circular and considerably flat and furnished with
variable number of spines, usually 6-8; spines frequently curved and
distributed irregularly on dorsal disc; aperture eccentric, lobate
or circular with irregular border; test chitinous
with quartz crystals.
Distribution: India:
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West
Bengal.
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
5. Centropyxis
orbicularis Deflandre, 1929
1929. Centropyxis orbicularis Deflandre, Arch.
Protistenkd., 67, P.
334.
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 1ex. Semodah, freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test
brownish, almost circular in ventral view, ventral surface flat; in lateral
view test semicircular, displaying considerable invagination
towards the oral aperture; oral aperture nearly semi-circular, plagiostomic; test encrusted with large stony particles on
its dorsal border.
Distribution: India:
Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
Genus Cyclopyxis Deflandre, 1929.
1929. Centropyxis (Cyclopyxis) Deflandre, Arch. Protistenkd., 67, pp. 330, 337.
Diagnosis: Test
irregularly arched, oral aperture centrally located.
6. Cyclopyxis
eurystoma (Deflandre, 1929)
1929. Centropyxis (Cyclopyxis) eurystoma Deflandre, Arch. Protistenkd., 67, p. 371.
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 1ex.,
Kolkaz, freshwater. coll. L.
Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test
hemispherical in lateral view, circular or elliptical in ventral view,
brownish, aperture central, circular and slightly invaginated
with regular smooth edge and half or little more than half the diameter of the
test; test encrusted with quartz particles.
Distribution: India:
Arunachal Pradesh.
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
Class:
Filosea
Order:
Gromiida
Family:
Euglyphidae
Genus:
Assulina
Ehrenberg, 1872
1848. Difflugia (Partim)
Ehrenberg, Ber. Akad. Berlin, p. 379.
1871 (1872). Assulina (Partim) Ehrenberg, Ber. Akad. Berlin, p. 226.
1879. Assulina: Leidy, Freshwater
Rhizopods of North America, p. 224.
Diagnosis: Test brown
or colourless, ovoid, compressed, formed of elliptical, imbricated
siliceous platelets, arranged more or less regularly in diagonal rows, aperture
oval, terminal, truncate or with a short neck bordered by a thin chitinous dentate membrane.
7. Assulina
muscorum Greef, 1888.
1879. Assulina seminulum (Partim) Leidy,
Freshwater Rhizopods
of North America, pl. 37. figs.15,16,26.
1915. Assulina muscorum. Cash, Wailes
and Hopkinson, The British Freshwater Rhizopoda
and Heliozoa, 3, p. 55.
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 2exs. Kolkaz, freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test
small, yellowish to dark brown and sometimes colourless, oviform, compressed,
truncate anteriorly, aperture composed of imbricated oval or elliptical platelets, usually arranged
in alternating diagonal rows, sometimes irregularly; aperture terminal,
elliptical, bordered by a thin chitinous membrane
with undulate or irregularly dentate margin, aperture with pronounced and
distinctly lobed collar of organic cement.
Distribution: India:
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura
and West Bengal.
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
8. Assulina
seminulum
(Ehrenberg, 1848) Leidy, 1879.
1848. Difflugia seminulum Ehrenberg, Ber. Akad. Berlin, p.379.
1879. Assulina seminulum (Partim) Leidy,
Freshwater Rhizopods of North America, p. 225.
Material
examined: 22.ix.2007, 1ex. Kolkaz, freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test about
one-and-half times larger in size than that of A. muscorum, yellowish to dark brown, pyriform or ovoid in broad view, compressed, composed of imbricated oval or elliptical siliceous platelets, aperture
terminal, oval, surrounded by a thin chitinous
membrane with irregularly dentate or undulate margin.
Distribution: India:
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim and West Bengal
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
Genus:
Euglypha Dujardin, 1841.
1915. Englypha: Cash, Wailes and Hopkinson, The
British Freshwater Rhizopoda
and Heliozoa, 3 p. 3.
1962. Euglypha: Decloitre, Arch. Protistenkd., 106, p. 51.
Diagnosis: Test
hyaline, ovoid or elongated, formed of circular, oval or scutiform
siliceous, imbricated platelets, arranged in
alternating longitudinal rows, aperture terminal, circular or elliptic, bordered
by serrated or denticulate platelets.
9. Euglypha
acanthophora
(Ehrenberg, 1842), Perty, 1849.
1915. Euglypha acanthophora Cash, Wailes & Hopkinson, The
British Freshwater Rhizopoda and
Heliozoa, 3, p.8.
Material
examined: 5exs., Makhala, 22.ix.2007, freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test ovoid
or slightly elongated towards aperture, not compressed, aperture circular,
bordered by one or occasionally two rows of finely serrated apertural
platelets; test platelets elliptical, some platelets of posterior half and at
the base of fundus prolonged into spines, spines
usually 4-7 in number.
Distribution: India:
Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and West Bengal.
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
10. Euglypha
tuberculata Dujardin, 1841.
1915. Euglypha tuberculata Cash, Wailes
and Hopkinson, The British Freshwater Rhizopoda
and Heliozoa, 3, p. 13.
pl. 33, figs. 6-7, pl. 35, figs.3-5, text figs.
112-114.
Material examined:
22.ix.2007, 4exs., Makhala,
freshwater, coll. L. Bindu.
Diagnosis: Test
elongate-oviform, not compressed, test platelets round or broadly oval, imbricating, giving a regular hexagonal design, aperture
circular, bordered by 8-12 finely serrated platelets, arranged in a single row.
Distribution: India:
Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &
Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Remarks: First
report from Maharashtra.
References
Cash,
J. & J. Hopkinson (1905). The British Freshwater Rhizopoda
Heliozoa. Vol. I, Rhizopoda, Part I. Ray Society, London, 148pp.
Cash,
J. & G.H. Wailes (1915). The British Freshwater Rhizopoda
and Heliozoa. Vol. III, Rhizopoda, part III, J. Ray Society, London, 156pp.
Cash,
J., G.H. Wailes & J. Hopkinson (1919). The British Freshwater Rhizopoda
and Heliozoa. Vol. IV.
Ray Society, London, 130pp.
Decloitre, L. (1962). Le genere
Euglypha Dujardin, Archiv protistenkunde 106(1): 51-100
Deflandre, G.
(1929). Le genere
Centropyxis Stein. Archiv fuer Protistenkunde 67: 322-375.
Deflandre, G.
(1959). Rhizopoda and Actinopoda, pp.232-264. In:
Edmondson, W.T. (ed.). Freshwater biology (2nd
edition). John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York,
London.
Leidy,
J. (1879). Freshwater
rhizopods of North America. Report
of Suvrey of Territories Monograph 12:
1-324pp.
Stein (1859). Characterestic neuer
Infusorien-Gattungen. Lotos 9: 2-5.
Key to the families
1. Test
semirigid, flexible near the aperture ……….............................................…
Family Microcoryciidae
- Test
rigid………....................................................……2
2. Test
membranous and rigid, having a distinct oral aperture …...................................................................…Family
Arcellidae
- Test
with minerals or organic particles and with an oral aperture…......................................................................…………3
3. Symmetry
of test dorso-ventral, oral aperture at one side of
the test (eccentric) or Ventral.................................... Family Centropyxidae
Key to the species of Centropyxis
1. Test
beset with spines……………………….…….....................…….....………. 2
- Test
without any spine……………………………….......………………………3
2.
Test
furnished with variable number of spines frequently curved and distributed
irregularly on dorsal
side, aperture lobate or circular with irregular border.......................................…C. spinosa.
3. Test
comparatively large, discoidal, largely elliptical,
usually irregular in outline, oral aperture circular or round .........
.......... ............ ...............................................................................C. ecornis
- Test
circular or nearly circular in ventral view…………………………………..4
4. Test
almost circular in ventral view, encrusted with large stony particles on its
dorsal border,oral aperture
nearly semi-circular…..........................................................................……......C. orbicularis.
Key to the genera of the family Euglyphidae
1. Test
brown or colourless, aperture elliptical, elongate or oval in oral view,
aperture terminal and bordered by very thin and finely dentate membrane ….............………………......…….Genus
Assulina.
2. Test
hyaline without any collar, scales of various shape imbricated
and arranged in longitudinal rows, aperture terminal and bordered with
regularly arranged serrated or denticulated platelets
......................................Genus Euglypha.