Rhynchobodo longiciliatus ( Skuja, 1948 ) Bernard et al., 2000

Lee, Won Je, 2019, Small Free-Living Heterotrophic Flagellates from Marine Intertidal Sediments of the Sydney Region, Australia, Acta Protozoologica 58 (4), pp. 167-189 : 178

Rhynchobodo longiciliatus ( Skuja, 1948) Bernard et al., 2000

Figs 1j, 4a–b

Description: Cells are long and thin with a pointed posterior end, 25–50 µm long, flexible, not flattened, and with no pellicular striations. The anterior part of the cell appears to be more flattened than other parts of the cell. The cells have a spiral groove. Two flagella emerge subapically from a shallow flagellar pocket and are thickened. The anterior flagellum appears to attach to the anterior part (?rostrum) of the cell, is longer than the cell and beats freely. The posterior flagellum is about the cell length or may be shorter. When the cells swim, they rotate and the posterior flagellum appears to wrap around the body. When squashed, the cells may squirm. The nucleus is situated in the posterior part of the cell. Food materials are seen throughout the cell. Commonly observed at Woolooware Bay.

Remarks: This species is assigned to Rhynchobodo longiciliatus ( Skuja, 1948) Bernard et al., 2000 , although the posterior flagellum of the cell observed here is shorter than the original description of the species. Skuja (1948) described R. longiciliatus , which is 20–45 µm and its posterior flagellum is about 2.5 times the cell length, but did not mention about the flagellar pocket, which is difficult to observe. Larsen and Patterson (1990) recorded this species about 22 µm long from a marine site in tropical Australia and tentatively put into Heteronema acutissimum Lemmermann, 1910 . However it is different to Heteronema because it has no pellicle strips and there is no deep flagellar poket – as in euglenids. This species is generally in accord with the descriptions of Bodo faccatus Skuja, 1956 (25–35 µm long) and Cercomonas draco (Skuja, 1956) Mignot et Brugerolle, 1976 (35–57 µm long) which have a long body shape and are similar in length. These species are also flexible. Here Bodo faccatus is regarded as a junior synonym of R. longiciliatus , but Cercomonas draco may be different because it produces pseudopodia. Rhynchobodo longiciliatus is distinguished from Heteronema fusiformis Skvortzov, 1957 which appears to have no pellicle striations and is about 37 µm long, by having a spiral groove and because the body is not fusiform.

Figures

Fig. 4. (a)–(b) Rhynchobodo longiciliatus, (a) general appearance of cell, (b) flagellar insertion into pocket. (c)–(d) Cercomonas sp.1, general appearance, note slender anterior part and hyaline cell body. (e)–(f) Cercomonas parva, (e) genera appearance showing a posterior fla- gellum attached to the body, (f) flexible body. (g)–(h) Cercomonas sp.2, general appearance, note both short flagella and cytoplasms drawn from the posterior part. (i) Cyranomonas australis, showing general appearance of different cells, note flagellar insertion. (j)–(k) Protaspa flexibilis sp. nov., general appearance of different cells, (j) nuclear caps around nucleus. All micrographs are DIC images. Scale bar in (k) = 10 μm for all figures with the exception of (b). Scale bar in (b) = 5 μm.