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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 2034

Wilhelm Foissner and Galina A. Korganova; Redescription of Three Testate Amoebae (Protozoa, Rhizopoda) from a Caucasian Soil: Centropyxis plagiostoma Bonnet & Thomas, Cyclopyxis kahli (Deflandre) and C. intermedia Kufferath. Arch.Protistenk 146:13-28, 1995

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The shell morphologies of Centropyxis plagiostoma Bonnet & Thomas, 1955, Cyclopyxis kahli (Deflandre, 1929) and C. intermedia Kufferath, 1932 are redescribed using light and scanning electron microscopy and morphometry. The species are redefined, including literature data, and guide lines are suggested for species recognition in testate amoebae. High variability of most morphometric and morphological shell characters is evident, suggesting that the group is greatly oversplit; many species and varieties described are very likely based on alterations occurring during shell aging and decomposition. A variability of up to 100-150%, i.e. that the biggest individuals are twice as large as the smallest, is common if field populations from different biotopes and areas are compared. Thus, morphometric criteria are of very limited taxonomic value and should be used for species separation only if very distinct and/or accompanied by at least one reliable morphological character. The following synonymy is suggested for C. kahli: C. kahli cyclostoma, C. kahli obliqua, C. dispar, C. dulcis, C. insolitus, C. profundistoma; and for C. intermedia: C. gigantea, C. bathystoma, C. kahli grandis.