Carpediemonas membranifera Ekebom et al. 1996

Lee, Won Je, 2015, Small Free-Living Heterotrophic Flagellates from Marine Sediments of Gippsland Basin, South-Eastern Australia, Acta Protozoologica 54 (1), pp. 53-76 : 64-65

Carpediemonas membranifera Ekebom et al. 1996 ( Fig. 4a )

Observation: Cells are elliptical or obovate and 3 to 6 µm long with a longitudinal ventral groove, which extends most of the cell length. Two flagella of unequal length emerge from the anterior distal part of the cell. The anterior flagellum is bent over backwards and is as long as the cell and beats stiffly. The acronematic posterior flagellum is 2.5 to 4 times cell length, beats actively in the ventral depression and usually lies in the groove. The cells usually move by skidding with the anterior flagellum beating with a stiff paddling motion. The cells consume bacteria. Commonly observed in anoxic conditions.

Remarks: This species has been described from marine sites in subtropical and tropical Australia, Brazil and Korea, and previously reported cell lengths are 3 to 9 µm ( Larsen and Patterson 1990, Ekebom et al. 1996, Simpson and Patterson 1999, Bernard et al. 2000, Lee and Patterson 2000, Al-Qassab et al. 2002, Lee 2002b). This species is distinguished from Kipferlia bialata by its smaller size, the absence of the moving membrane and the relatively long posterior flagellum. It consumes bacteria ( Larsen and Patterson 1990, Ekebom et al. 1996, Lee and Patterson 2000) and usually occurs in large numbers with Cafeteria marsupialis and Kipferlia bialata ( Lee and Patterson 2000) .

Figures

Fig. 4. a – Carpediemonas membranifera; b – Kipferlia bialata; c – Discocelis saleuta, note a short flagellum; d – Metopion fluens, showing general appearance of cell, note shorter flagellum (arrow); e–f – Kurnaimonas celeris nov. spec., showing general appearance of cell; g – Pseudophyllomitus granulatus; h – Helkesimastix faecicola, showing general appearance and note short flagellum (arrow); i – Metromonas grandis, showing general appearance of cell and note the folded margin on the left side and short flagellum (arrow); j – Metromonas simplex, showing general appearance of cell and note short flagellum (arrow); k – Kiitoksia kaloista, showing two flagella and note short flagellum (arrow); l – Sinistermonas sinistrorsus nov. spec., showing general appearance of cell, and note flagellar insertion and beating pattern of anterior flagellum; m – Telonema subtilis, showing general appearance; n – Protist ‘1’. All micrographs are DIC images. Scale bar: 5 µm for all figures.