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Amastigomonas De Saedeleer 1931

Thecamonas Larsen and Patterson 1990

David J. Patterson
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Containing group: Apusomonads

Introduction

Amastigomonas (also called Thecamonas (Larsen and Patterson, 1990)) is a very widespread and common genus. The genus has been reported from around the world, most records are from marine habitats, but it has also been reported from soils and freshwaters. The organism glides on the substrate with its anterior flagellum moving slightly. The genus eats bacteria, and food is ingested using pseudopodia that are produced by the ventral surface.

Twelve nominal species have been assigned to this genus, but a number of these are barely distinguishable and have been rendered into synonymy. The most detailed survey of the genus is that of Molina and Nerad (1991), and the most recent comments are those of Lee and Patterson (2000).

Characteristics

The species in this genus have the characters typical of all apusemonads. No generic synapomorphies have been found to date.

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Sister group relationships within the genus have not been explored. It may be that the genus is paraphyletic, and that Apusomonas cannot even serve as an outgroup.

Other Names for Amastigomonas De Saedeleer 1931

References

De Saedeleer H. 1931. Nieuwe of wenig bekende Flagellaten. Naturwetenschapplijk Tijdschrift, 13, 89-96.

Larsen J. and Patterson D. J. 1990. Some flagellates (Protista) from tropical marine sediments. J. Nat. Hist., 24, 801-937.

Lee, W. J. and Patterson, D. J. 2000. Heterotrophic flagellates (Protista) from marine sediments of Botany Bay, Australia. Journal of Natural History, 34: 483-562.

Molina, F. I. and Nerad, T. A., 1991. Ultrastructure of Amastigomonas bermudensis ATCC 50234 sp.nov. - a new heterotrophic marine flagellate, European Journal of Protistology, 27, 386-396.

Patterson, D. J. 1999. The diversity of eukaryotes. American Naturalist 154: S96-124.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Amastigomonas debruynei, Amastigomonas filosa (2), Amastigomonas proboscidea (3)
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © 2000 David J. Patterson
About This Page

David J. Patterson
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to David J. Patterson at

Page: Tree of Life Amastigomonas De Saedeleer 1931. Thecamonas Larsen and Patterson 1990. Authored by David J. Patterson. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Patterson, David J. 2000. Amastigomonas De Saedeleer 1931. Thecamonas Larsen and Patterson 1990. Version 18 September 2000. http://tolweb.org/Amastigomonas/20485/2000.09.18 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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