Bicosoeca conica Lemmermann 1912

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 : 123

Bicosoeca conica Lemmermann 1912 ( Figs 1d , 2d )

Observation: Cell is about 4.5 μm long, located in a conical lorica which is about 5.5 μm long with a stalk about 6.5 μm long. Two flagella are of unequal length and arise near the anterior end of the cell. The anterior flagellum is about 3 times the cell length and beats with a high amplitude sine wave, and the posterior flagellum is slightly longer than the cell and attaches to the lorica. The lorica attaches to the substrate using a stalk, which is about 10 μm long. One cell found.

Remarks: Generally, our observation is in agreement with those of Larsen and Patterson (1990). Bicosoeca conica is smilar to B. gracilipes James-Clark 1967 which has a cylindrical lorica. Bicosoeca conica was reported from marine sites in subtropical Australia, Brazil, the Pacific and the Atlantic ( Larsen and Patterson 1990, Patterson et al. 1993, Vørs et al. 1995, Lee 2001) with cell length of 4 μm. The species of Bicosoeca have been distinguished by the shape of the lorica, but the boundaries among many species are not clear, and this genus needs more attention. Thus, many synonyms may exist in the genus, and further work is required to clarify the identities of species in this genus.

Figures

Fig. 1. a – Actinomonas mirabilis/Pteridomonas danica; b – Amastigomonas mutabilis; c – Ancyromonas micra; d – Bicosoeca conica; e – Bordnamonas tropicana; f – Caecitellus parvulus; g – Cafeteria minuta; h – Cafeteria roenbergensis; i – Cyranomonas australis; j – Developayella elegans; k – Discocelis saleuta; l – Goniomonas amphinema; m – Goniomonas pasifica; n – Kiitoksia ystava; o – Dinema platysomum; p – Anisonema acinus; q – Heteronema exaratum; r – Heteronema ovale; s – Kathablepharis remigera; t – Notosolenus canellatus; u – Massisteria marina; v – Metromonas grandis; w – Neobodo designis; x – Neobodo saliens; y – Percolomonas similis. Scale bar: 10 μm for all figures.

Fig. 2. a – Actinomonas mirabilis/Pteridomonas danica; b – Amastigomonas mutabilis; c – Ancyromonas micra; d – Bicosoeca conica; e – Caecitellus parvulus, note the mouth on the left-hand side; f – Bordnamonas tropicana; g – Cafeteria roenbergensis; h – Cyranomonas australis; i – Developayella elegans; j – Discocelis saleuta; k – Goniomonas amphinema; l – Cafeteria minuta, feeding cell; m – Anisonema acinus, dorsal view, note the ingestion organelle; n – Dinema platysomum, ventral view showing surface striations; o – Goniomonas pacifica; p – Heteronema exaratum, ventral view, general appearance of cell; q – Kathablepharis remigera; r – Massisteria marina; s – Neobodo saliens; t – Neobodo designis; u–v – Heteronema ovale, same cell; u – general appearance; v – extended cell. All micrographs are DIC images. Scale bar: 5 μm for all figures.