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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Alepiella

Alepiella Golemansky, 1970 (ref. ID; 2111, 7610))
  1. Alepiella tricornuta Golemansky, 1970 (ref. ID; 2097, 2111 original paper, 2115, 2432, 2438, 3519, 7610)

Alepiella tricornuta Golemansky, 1970 (ref. ID; 2097, 2111 original paper, 2115, 2432, 2438, 3519, 7610)

Descriptions

The shell is elongate, plagiostome, with two mid-body and one aboral spines, being easily identified by its large apertural collar. The main trunk of the body is usually circular or slightly oval in cross-section swelling slightly from the aperture to the mid-body region and then tapering gradually to the aboral spine, anteriorly the body is bent so that the face of the collar is parallel to the main axis of the body giving rise to a small curved neck. The large circular apertural collar or frill, seems to be delicate or supple and is usually spread out as flat as an opened fan. The edge of this collar is clearly defined and the apertural face is seen to be mainly an organic matrix with a mass of small particles embedded in it. The collar has been reported to be free of the body surface (Golemansky 1970), whereas in the present material the delicacy of the collar is such that it is very difficult to see any separation by optical microscopy and in washed specimen prepared for scanning electron microscopy the posterior portion of the structure often seems to be fused to the main body surface. The reverse surface of the collar has a rougher appearance and includes large particles which are most frequently present at the centre of the circle with the smaller particles arranged around the perimeter. The aperture is a simple plagiostome with an apparently regular circular opening. In most of the specimens examined the roughest area of the shell is at the back of the neck or collar, which is usually composed of angular particles, whilst the remainder of the body is a mixture of angular and rod-shaped particles, some of the latter appear to be crystalline in structure and often appear to be arranged in a bundle. These medium particles are interspersed with smaller particles to give the shell a regular smooth outline, and the hollow spines are composed almost entirely of small particles arranged to give these structures their finely pointed extremities. Some smooth pieces perhaps fused inorganic elements from volcanic sources, may also be incorporated in shell. At several points on the shell surface strands or small sheets of organic cement can be seen between adjacent particles, but generally the material is packed so close together that it overlaps. (ref. ID; 7610)

Examined material

Interstitial water with the minimum of sand was collected from the bottom of one meter deep shafts dug in the littoral sand of several beaches on the Atlantic coast of Guadeloupe. The Samples were collected in November, 1984. (ref. ID; 7610)