A Taxonomic Monograph of Hyalospheniid Testate Amoebae
February 2025; ALPHIL; 978-2-88930-428-8; paperback; 270 pages; 40.00 CHF. Also available in ebook.
Edward Mitchell, one of the authors of the newly published book A Taxonomic Monograph of Hyalospheniid Testate Amoebae, offers a detailed overview of the book’s content and its contribution to the field of protistology. It is an essential resource for researchers and enthusiasts alike.
Taxonomic monographs on groups or protists are rare and testate amoebae are a good example of this. Since Georges Deflandre published his monograph on the genus Nebela in 1936, no systematic revision of this beautiful group of testate amoebae has been done. In the meantime, many new species were described and the genus Nebela was split into 12 genera based on combined morphological and molecular analyses (COI phylogeny). A taxonomic revision was clearly overdue to set a basis for future work.
In this monograph, we present a taxonomic revision of the sub-order Hyalospheniformes (Amoebozoa, Arcellinida), which includes a single family, the Hyalospheniidae. The monograph includes taxonomic keys to genera and species. A total of 14 genera (Alabasta, Alocodera, Apodera, Certesella, Cornutheca, Gibbocarina, Hyalosphenia, Longinebela, Mrabella, Nebela, Padaungiella, Planocarina, Porosia, and Quadrulella), and 97 species. All species are presented in detail with light microscopy pictures, SEM pictures and/or original line drawings for each species, diagnostic criteria, and morphological and morphometrical characteristics notes on the ecology, geographical distribution, taxonomy, and molecular data where available. Annotated lists of dubious and incertae sedis species and synonymous names are provided and discussed to make future taxonomic work easier.
This book is designed to benefit protistologists in general, and particularly ecologists and palaeoecologists, by assisting with the ease and accuracy of identification of hyalospheniid testate amoeba species, many of which are useful bioindicators, especially in peatlands. We also hope that this book will serve as a useful basis for future work regarding the taxonomy, biogeography, and ecology of these beautiful organisms.
Joseph Leidy, the famous 19th-century pioneer North American protistologist best known for his beautifully illustrated monograph Fresh-water Rhizopods of North America published in 1879, famously once wrote, “How can life be tiresome so long as there is still a new rhizopod undescribed?” We agree with him. The job is still very far from done. There is no shortage of new Hyalospheniformes waiting to be described. This is of course true in under-explored parts of the world, but even in well-studied regions. We hope this book will make the life of passionate taxonomists easier!
Protist Image Resources
ISOP recognizes the importance of sharing valuable image collections created by renowned scientists. We provide links to some of these exceptional collections for the community to explore on our website.
