Notosolenus apocamptus Stokes, 1884

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 : 508-509

Notosolenus apocamptus Stokes, 1884

(fi gures 9b, 10c, d)

Description. Cell outline oval or ovate, 7-12 Mm long (mostly 8-11 Mm), 4-7 Mm wide, about 2 Mm thick, fl attened. The anterior end is slightly narrowed, the posterior end is roundish. A deep longitudinal dorsal groove runs along the entire cell. Both sides of the groove are slightly rounded. Two fl agella of unequal length emerge from an ovate reservoir in the right-hand side of the cell. The anterior fl agellum is approximately 1.5-1.8 times the cell length and the posterior fl agellum is approximately 0.4-0.6 times the cell length. The nucleus is located on the left of the cell. Cells move by smooth gliding with anterior fl agellum extended. Common.

Remarks. This species was fi rst described by Stokes (1884) from freshwater sites. Previously reported with lengths from 6.5 to 18 Mm ( Stokes, 1884; Skuja, 1939; Larsen and Patterson, 1990; Ekebom et al., 1996; Patterson and Simpson, 1996). This species was described from marine sites in subtropical and tropical Australia, Brazil and Fiji ( Larsen and Patterson, 1990; Ekebom et al., 1996; Patterson and Simpson, 1996). Generally, cells described here are consistent with those described by Larsen and Patterson (1990). This species is distinguished from others of the genus Notosolenus by its small size and deep dorsal groove. This species resembles Petalomonas minuta Hollande, 1942 in general appearance, but it is distinguished by the presence of a recurrent posterior fl agellum and a dorsal groove. Notosolenus apocamptus is similar to N. stenoschismus Skuja, 1939 in general cell shape and in having a groove, but N. stenoschismus is slightly larger, has indistinct pellicular striations and has a ventral groove. This species can be confused with N. similis because of similar general appearance and length range (see N. simili s, below).