Developayella elegans Tong, 1995

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 : 540

Developayella elegans Tong, 1995 (fi gures 20i, 21h)

Description. Cell outline oval, 5-6 Mm long, with two fl agella emerging from a depression in the right anterior part of the ventral side of the cell. The anterior fl agellum is about 1.3 times the length of the cell and the posterior fl agellum is about 1.5 -1.7 times the length of the cell. Cells attach to the substratum by means of the posterior fl agellum. In attached cells the anterior fl agellum is held in a curve and beats slowly up and down, and the posterior fl agellum beats rapidly with a shallow excursion. Cells move by swimming. Rarely observed.

Remarks. Developayella elegans has been described from subtropical Australia and England and the cell length had been reported to range from 3.5 to 10 Mm ( Patterson and Simpson, 1996; Tong, 1995, 1997 a, 1997b; Tong et al., 1998). Generally, our observations are in accord with the descriptions of Tong (1995). When D. elegans attaches to the substratum, it is recognized from other free-living fl agellates, such as Cafeteria, Colponema , Jakoba and Phyllomitus, which have two fl agella and a large ventral depression, by the beat pattern of the fl agella—the anterior fl agellum beats slowly up and down and the posterior fl agellum beats rapidly with small excursion.