Protaspis obliqua Larsen et Patterson 1990

Aydin, Esra Elif & Lee, Won Je, 2012, Free-living Heterotrophic Flagellates from Intertidal Sediments of Saros Bay, Aegean Sea (Turkey), Acta Protozoologica 51 (2), pp. 119-137 : 133

Protaspis obliqua Larsen et Patterson 1990 ( Figs 3j , 4q)

Observation: Cell outline is oval to roundish. Cells are 12–30 μm long and dorso-ventrally flattened. Cells are indented anteriorly and posteriorly where the margins of grooves meet. Anteriorly the right margin of the groove forms a protrusion and two flagella, unequal in length, emerge beneath this protrusion. The anteri- or flagellum is about 0.5 times the cell length and the posterior flagellum is 0.5–1.5 times the cell length. The nucleus is located subapically at the median line, is rounded and without nuclear caps. Description based on records of nine cells.

Remarks: Generally the description here is in accordance with the original description of Larsen and Patterson (1990). This species is easily distinguished from the other species of the genus by the protrusion located near the flagellar insertion. It has been reported from marine sites in tropical Australia, Fiji, England and Korea ( Larsen and Patterson 1990; Tong 1997b; Lee and Patterson 2000; Lee 2001, 2002) and from a freshwater sediment in Tasmania ( Lee et al. 2005).

Figures

Fig. 3. a – Petalomonas marginalis; b – Petalomonas minuta; c – Petalomonas ornata; d – Petalomonas poosilla; e–f – Ploeotia corrugata; e – general appearance of the cell from ventral and (f) dorsal view showing the ridges; g – Sphenomonas angusta; h – Ploeotia vitrea; i – Polyoeca dichotoma; j – Protaspis obliqua; k – Protaspis tegere; l – Salpingoeca marina; m – Pseudophyllomitus granulatus; n–p – ‘Aegoni’, n – postero-lateral view of the cell showing the beak – like structure; o – posterior view of the cell showing the flagellar insertions; p – general view of the cell. Scale bar: 5 μm for all figures.