Urceolus alenizini
| Urceolus alenizini | |
|---|---|
| |
| Illustration of U. alenizini by Mereschkowsky (1879)[1] | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Phylum: | Euglenozoa |
| Class: | Euglenida |
| Order: | Peranemida |
| Family: | Peranemidae |
| Genus: | Urceolus |
| Species: | U. alenizini
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| Binomial name | |
| Urceolus alenizini | |
Urceolus alenizini (alternatively spelt alenizinii) is a species of flagellates. It was described by Konstantin Mereschkowsky in 1877 as the type species of the genus Urceolus. It is a rare species only recorded by its author once in the White Sea, in northern Russia. It is distinguished by other members of the genus by the lack of spiral stripes in its cell surface.
Description[edit]
Urceolus alenizini is a species of flagellates, single-celled protists that have flagella for movement.[3] Members of the genus Urceolus are distinguished by the presence of a 'neck' at the anterior end of their oval-shaped cell, followed by a wide aperture or 'mouth' into a deep canal where the feeding groove and the flagellum originate.[4] Like other euglenids, their pellicle is composed of stripes that run spirally along the surface.[3] However, this particular species, U. alenizini, is distinguished from other species of the genus because it lacks said spiralling stripes, and presents a smooth cell surface instead. In addition, it has a cylindrical neck with margins abruptly truncated, not turned outward as in other species such as U. cyclostomus.[4] The author of the species, Konstantin Mereschkowsky, measured the cell size as 0.039’’’ in length, and 0.024’’’ at the greatest width, without using any symbol of the metric system.[1]
Taxonomy[edit]
The species Urceolus alenizini was described by Russian biologist Konstantin Mereschkowsky, in a memoir on the protozoa found in northern Russia published in 1877,[2] later translated into German in 1879.[1] It was described from a rare flagellate seen only once by Mereschkowsky in the White Sea, near the Solovetsky Monastery, distinguished by the unique neck-shaped anterior end of the cell.[4] As the first species of the genus Urceolus, it became its type species.[5]
The generic name Urceolus, from Latin urceolus 'pitcher', references the flask or pitcher-shaped cells. The specific epithet alenizini is named in honour of an individual named Woldemar Alenizin, referred by Mereschkowsky as "highly respected".[1] In later publications and electronic sources such as AlgaeBase, the epithet appears written as alenizinii instead.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e C. von Mereschkowsky (1879). "Studien über Protozoen des nördlichen Russland" [Studies on protozoa of northern Russia]. Archiv für Mikroskopische Anatomie (in German). 16: 153–248.
- ^ a b K. S. Mereschkowsky (1877). "Etyudy nad prosteyshimi zhivotnymi severa Rossii" Этюды над простейшими животными севера России [Studies on protozoa of northern Russia]. Trudy S.-Peterburgskago Obshchestva Estestvoispytatelei Труды Санкт-Петербургскаго Общества естествоиспытателей [Proceedings of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists] (in Russian). 8: 203–376.
- ^ a b Won Je Lee (June 2006). "Heterotrophic Euglenids from Marine Sediments of Cape Tribulation, Tropical Australia" (PDF). Ocean science journal : OSJ. 41 (2): 59–73. doi:10.1007/BF03022412. ISSN 1738-5261. Wikidata Q104428258.
- ^ a b c C. Mereschkowsky (1881). "XVIII.—On some new or little-known Infusoria". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Fifth series. 7 (39): 209–219. doi:10.1080/00222938109459496.
- ^ a b Alexei Y. Kostygov; Anna Karnkowska; Jan Votýpka; Daria Tashyreva; Kacper Maciszewski; Vyacheslav Yurchenko; Julius Lukeš (10 March 2021). "Euglenozoa: taxonomy, diversity and ecology, symbioses and viruses". Open Biology. 11: 200407. doi:10.1098/RSOB.200407. ISSN 2046-2441. PMC 8061765. PMID 33715388. Wikidata Q125548575.