Ref ID : 4838
Karl G. Grell; Reticulamoeba gemmipara n. gen., n. sp., an "Amoebo-flagellate" with Reticulopodia and Zoosporogenesis. Arch.Protistenk 144:55-61, 1994
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The "amoeboflagellate" Reticulamoeba gemmipara n. gen., n. sp. was isolated from samples which were collected in the littoral zone of the Greek island Thera (Santorin). It could be cultivated with the pennate diatom Amphiprora sp. as food organism. On a "lawn" of the diatoms, the amoeboid stages create clusters. Every cluster contains a single amoeba which gathers the diatoms with its reticulopodia. When the density of the diatoms is low, the reticulopodia of different amoebae fuse with each other to form a "feeding community". The multiplication of Reticulamoeba gemmipara entails the successive formation of buds which can transform into biflagellate swarmers or zoospores. The course of reticulopodial digestion, zoosporogenesis and the morphology of the zoospore exhibit a striking similarity to the meroplasmodial species Leucodictyon marinum (Grell, 1991), indicating a relationship.