User:Ménidolcien/sandbox

Protozelleriella

A new genus of binucleate Opalinidae was found in 1990 on several occasions in the gut of the primitive toad Capensibufo rosei (Bufonidae) (3 out of 5 specimens) from the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. The toads lived in fynbos marshes (acidic water) in the Silver Mine Nature Reserve. The name Protozelleriella was given in reference to Metcalf's genus Zelleriella. The two genera have two nuclei in common and a falx transverse to the longitudinal axis of the body. But as compared to Zelleriella it possesses a marginal area devoid of kineties. Also the general shape of the body is somewhat mushroom-like. One species of Protoopalina (associated with Protozelleriella) was found in one of the three specimens of Capensibufo rosei. The arrangement of the kineties was regular; so was the general shape of the body, ruling out the the possibility of a fixation/staining artefact. So far there is no explanation for the peculiar shape and the kinetic arrangement of the flagella for Protozelleriella. In terms of evolution, it seems to be a primitive opaline living in a primitive toad but further studies are needed to confirm this fact. On a general basis binucleate opalinids seem to be rather primitive genera as compared to the multinucleate forms (Opalina and Cepedea).There seem to be no intermediate nucleated forms though some Protoopalina species bear four nuclei instead of two. On a biogeographical point of view, Zelleriella in Amphibians is typically associated with the Southern land masses once part of Gondwana. The other three recognized genera on the other hand are found both in Northern and Southern hemispheres but the prevalence of Protoopalina is rarer than the multinucleate genera in the Northern hemisphere Amphibians.