An interesting group of testate amoebae is the genus Difflugia. There have been described hundreds of species, but the question is: how many of them are true species? Most descriptions are inaccurate of just based on one single test. Probably this group consists of several genera. Only DNA sequencing can help here. One of my projects is to make a visual map of all known species. It’s one of the most difficult taxa to identify.
Centropyxis declivistoma, after Chardez, 1990 Centropyxis declivistoma Chardez, 1990 Diagnosis: Test ovoid, slightly compressed dorso-ventrally, especially in the anterior region, embedded with polymorph mineral platelets. Pseudostome
Plagiopyxis bicamera, after Coûteaux, 1978 Plagiopyxis bicamera Coûteaux, 1978 Diagnosis: Test elongated, in ventral view elliptical, dorso-ventrally compressed, colorless or yellowish, with a cryptostome with visor.
Arcella jurassica, after Olivier, 1944 Arcella jurassica Olivier, 1944 Diagnosis: Test pyramid-shaped but strongly truncated, in lateral view trapezium-shaped, with 5-8 planes; pseudostome surrounded by
Assulina discoides , after Bobrov, Shimano and Mazei, 2012 Genus Deharvengia Bobrov, Shimano and Mazei, 2012 Diagnosis: Shell large in size, disc shaped, colorless, transparent,
Deharvengia japonica, after Bobrov, Shimano and Mazei, 2012 Genus Deharvengia Bonnet, 1979, emend. Bobrov, Shimano and Mazei, 2012 Diagnosis: Test transparent, oval or ovoid in