Cercomonas sp.

Lee, Won Je & Patterson, David J., 2000, Heterotrophic flagellates (Protista) from marine sediments of Botany Bay, Australia, Journal of Natural History 34, pp. 483-562 : 542-543

Cercomonas sp.

(fi gures 21o, p, 22e)

Description. Gliding cell, 7-10 Mm long, fl exible, fl attened, anteriorly narrow, posteriorly broad. Two thickened fl agella insert apically. The anterior fl agellum beats slowly from side to side and is as long as the cell. The acronematic tip is hard to see. The acronematic posterior fl agellum is about 2-2.5 times the cell length, lies in a mid-ventral groove, is hard to see, and trails alongside the margin of the body. Pseudopodia are produced from the ventral groove; during gliding the pseudopodia move from the anterior end of the cell toward the posterior and then are drawn out behind the posterior end. Ingested bacteria with ventral pseudopodia are transported into the posterior part of the cell through pseudopodia.

Remarks. This species was often observed in this study. It is similar to Amastigomonas in having an acronematic posterior fl agellum and pliable body, but is distinguished because it is not covered with a theca and is less pliable. This species appears to be the same as the cell described by Tong (1994) as C ercomonas sp., but there are some differences in the location of ingestion and where pseudopodia are produced. Ingestion of bacteria took place on the ventral side of the cell as reported by Mignot and Brugerolle (1975) for other species, but Tong (1994) observed ingestion to take place on the dorsal side.

There are probably many synonyms in the genus Cercomonas (Patterson and Zölffel, 1991; Tong et al., 1997). Additionally, Skvortzov (1977) reported 83 species (73 of them new species) under the name Cercobodo —a synonym of Cercomonas ( Lee, 1985) . This genus is in urgent need of attention. We are unable to establish the species identity of this taxon, but record its presence to establish its occurrence in marine sediments.