''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of
testate amoebae
Testate amoebae (formerly thecamoebians, Testacea or Thecamoeba) are a polyphyletic group of unicellular amoeboid protists, which differ from naked amoebae in the presence of a test that partially encloses the cell, with an aperture from which the ...
of
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The ext ...
, belonging to the family
Hyalospheniidae.
They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct their
test.
Morphology
Members of this genus have a thin, transparent, pseudochitinous, flattened
test that can be ovate, pyriform or elongate, with a length of around 180
microns. The surface of the test has numerous oval or circular scales of variable size, or in rare occasions rectangular or rod-like scales. The
protoplasm
Protoplasm (; ) is the living part of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. It is a mixture of small molecules such as ions, monosaccharides, amino acid, and macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc.
In some defini ...
is granular and colorless but can contain food
vacuoles that show color. They have a single
nucleus
Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to:
*Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom
*Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA
Nucle ...
and a variable number of
pseudopodia
A pseudopod or pseudopodium (plural: pseudopods or pseudopodia) is a temporary arm-like projection of a eukaryotic cell membrane that is emerged in the direction of movement. Filled with cytoplasm, pseudopodia primarily consist of actin filament ...
that are blunt in shape. The cell body is attached to the test's interior by strands of
ectoplasm.
Classification
''Nebela'' originally belonged to the family Nebelidae, but phylogenetic analyses showed that the genus was
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
and the genera ''
Hyalosphenia
Arcellinid testate amoebae or Arcellinida,http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007 Arcellacean or lobose testate amoebae are single-celled protists partiall ...
'' and ''
Quadrulella'', which belong to
Hyalospheniidae, branch within ''Nebela''. Accordingly, the family Nebelidae was synonymised with
Hyalospheniidae.
There are at least 13 remaining species in the genus:
*''Nebela''
**''
Nebela acolla
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela aliciae
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construc ...
''
**''
Nebela barbata
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela carinatella
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela collaris
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
'' (=''
Difflugia collaris'' ; =''D. cancellata'' ; =''D. reticulata'' ; =''D. carpio'' ; =''D. laxa'' ; =''D. cellulifera'' ; =''N. numata'' ; =''N. bohemica'' ; =''N. sphagnophila'' ; =''N. tincta'' var. ''major'' ; =''N. tincta'' f. ''stenostoma'' )
**''
Nebela equicalceus
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
'' (=''N. hippocrepis'')
**''
Nebela flabellulum
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela guttata
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela meisterfeldi
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela pechorensis
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela rotunda
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela tenella
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
''
**''
Nebela tincta
''Nebela'' is a diverse genus of testate amoebae of cosmopolitan distribution, belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. They are "prey agglutinated" or "kleptosquamic" organisms, meaning they take the inorganic plates from their prey to construct ...
'' (=''
Hyalosphenia
Arcellinid testate amoebae or Arcellinida,http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007 Arcellacean or lobose testate amoebae are single-celled protists partiall ...
tincta'' ; =''N. bursella'' ; =''N. parvula'' ; =''N. minor'' )
Former species
The
paraphyly
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...
of ''Nebela'' is slowly being resolved by transfering species from ''Nebela'' to other genera through phylogenetic analyses.
The following species were previously considered ''Nebela'' but have been moved accordingly:
*''
Alabasta''
**''
Alabasta kivuense'' (=''Nebela kivuense''
)
**''
Alabasta longicollis'' (=''Nebela longicollis'' )
**''
Alabasta militaris'' (=''Nebela militaris'' ;
=''N. bursella'' ; =''Nebela americana'' var. ''bryophila'' )
*''
Cornutheca''
**''
Cornutheca ansata'' (=''Nebela ansata'' )
**''
Cornutheca saccifera'' (=''Nebela saccifera'' )
**''
Cornutheca jiuhuensis''
(=''Nebela jiuhuensis''
)
*''
Gibbocarina''
**''
Gibbocarina galeata'' (=''Nebela galeata'' )
*''
Longinebela''
**''
Longinebela golemanskyi'' (=''Nebela golemanskyi''
)
**''
Longinebela penardiana'' (=''Nebela penardiana'' )
**''
Longinebela speciosa'' (=''Nebela speciosa'' )
**''
Longinebela tubulosa'' (=''Nebela tubulosa'' )
*''
Netzelia
Arcellinid testate amoebae or Arcellinida,http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007 Arcellacean or lobose testate amoebae are single-celled protists partially ...
''
**''
Netzelia tuberculata''
(=''Nebela tuberculata''
)
*''
Padaungiella''
**''
Padaungiella lageniformis'' (=''Nebela lageniformis'' )
**''
Padaungiella wailesi'' (=''Nebela wailesi'' )
**''
Padaungiella wetekampi'' (=''Nebela wetekampi'' )
**''
Padaungiella tubulata'' (=''Nebela tubulata'' )
**''
Padaungiella nebeloides'' (=''Nebela nebeloides ''
)
*''
Planocarina''
**''
Planocarina carinata
''Planocarina'' () is a genus of arcellinid testate amoebae belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. It was created in 2016 to agglutinate a clade of species that were previously assigned to the paraphyletic genus ''Nebela''. All species of ''Pla ...
'' (=''Nebela carinata'' )
**''
Planocarina marginata
''Planocarina'' () is a genus of arcellinid testate amoebae belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. It was created in 2016 to agglutinate a clade of species that were previously assigned to the paraphyletic genus ''Nebela''. All species of ''Pla ...
'' (=''Nebela marginata'' )
**''
Planocarina maxima
''Planocarina'' () is a genus of arcellinid testate amoebae belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. It was created in 2016 to agglutinate a clade of species that were previously assigned to the paraphyletic genus ''Nebela''. All species of ''Pla ...
'' (=''Nebela maxima'' )
**''
Planocarina spumosa
''Planocarina'' () is a genus of arcellinid testate amoebae belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. It was created in 2016 to agglutinate a clade of species that were previously assigned to the paraphyletic genus ''Nebela''. All species of ''Pla ...
'' (=''Nebela spumosa'' )
*''
Physochila
Arcellinid testate amoebae or Arcellinida,http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007 Arcellacean or lobose testate amoebae are single-celled protists partially ...
''
**''
Physochila griseola
Arcellinid testate amoebae or Arcellinida,http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun03/gsamoebae.html Testate amoebae, peat bogs and past climates. accessed 16 march 2007 Arcellacean or lobose testate amoebae are single-celled protists partially ...
'' (=''Nebela griseola'' )
References
External links
{{taxonbar, from=Q11790411
Amoebozoa genera
Tubulinea