portrait

Description:

Cells oval from the ventral side, dorso-ventrally flattened. Length 26 - 34 microns, width 21 - 30 microns, length to width ratio 1.1 - 1.4. Cells ventrally flat, dorsally ridged into a series of approximately 7 - 8 'ribs' . Epicone small, club shaped, with a groove that begins just above the start of the cingulum and appears to widen into a depression near the apex. Hypocone forms a 'collar' around the epicone on the dorsal side. Cingulum incompletely encircling the epicone, distal end approximately 4 microns higher than proximal. Sulcus shallow and barely visible. Large (2 - 3 microns) pusule present 0.4 - 0.5 of the cell length from the apex, around the mid-line. Longitudinal flagellum originating just below the pusule. Indented around the inside of the periphery of the ventral side, 1 - 2 microns from the rim. Nucleus in the posterior part of the hypocone, oval to crescent shaped, 14 - 11 x 10 - 7 microns. Chloroplasts narrow, yellow-brown, 2 - 4 x 1 - 2 microns, radiating from the centre. Non-motile cells more rounded, with the hypocone encircling the epicone.