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Pontifex |
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There has been only one
species ascribed to the genus Pontifex, and this has only been
studied at the light microscopic level (as far as I know).
According to Page (Page 1983),
Pontifex (Schaeffer,
1926) is an invalid genus as this organism
had been previously described as Amoeba tentaculata (Gruber,
1881). However, Page (Page
1983) suggests that both are in fact not
naked amoebae but belong to the genus Trichosphaerium,
this would account for the fact that the amoeba were able to use Fucus
( a green seaweed) as a food source, as Trichosphaerium is a
voracious seaweed feeder (Polne-Fuller,
1987).
 Pontifex
at the Protist Information Server |
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Pontifex maximus
(Schaeffer, 1926),
Marine found in culture with Fucus from Maine, USA. 100-500mm
in length, 50-200mm in
width. Locomotes slowly.
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| Reference
Gruber, A. (1881). "Beirtrage zur
Kenntniss der Amoeben." Z.Wiss.Zool. 36, 459-470.
Page, F.C. (1983). "Marine Gymnamoebae."
Inst.Terr.Ecol. NERC Cambridge, England.
Polne-Fuller, M. (1987). "A multinucleated
marine amoeba which digests seaweeds." J. Protozool. 34(2):
159-165.
Schaeffer, A. (1926) "Taxonomy of the
amebas." Pap.Dept.Mar.Biol.Carnegie Institut. Wash. Vol
XXIV, 1-116. |
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