Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 27, 2026

Flamella

Flamella is a genus of fan-shaped amoebae belonging to the class Variosea within the Amoebozoa. It was described in 1926 by Asa Arthur Schaeffer.

Last revised
Jul 27, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
452 w
Citations
7
Source
Flamella
Flamella fuviatilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Amoebozoa
Class: Variosea
Family: Flamellidae
Genus: Flamella
Schaeffer, 1926
Type species
Flamella magnifica
Schaeffer, 1926

Flamella is a genus of fan-shaped amoebae belonging to the class Variosea within the Amoebozoa. It was described in 1926 by Asa Arthur Schaeffer.

Description

Flamella is a genus of naked flattened amoebae1 that appear fan-shaped, semicircular or diadem-shaped during locomotion. They develop a wide forward-facing hyaloplasm, from which blunt finger-shaped pseudopodia are produced, as well as trailing filaments facing backwards. Species of Flamella may form cysts that are double-walled and present unique structures, namely ostioles and operculae (crescent-shaped), in the cross sections of walls. Its species are similar to each other, but can be distinguished by the thickness and features of the cyst wall.2

Taxonomy

Flamella was described in 1926 by Asa Arthur Schaeffer along with its type and, initially, only species F. magnifica.1 Schaeffer noted a unique irregular morphology, extremely variable during locomotion, and initially classified it in the family Hyalodiscidae (Placopodidae) together with Hyalodiscus3 (Placopus), a genus of vampyrellid amoebae with slender filopodia.4

Molecular phylogenetic analyses eventually revealed that it belongs to the class Variosea within the Amoebozoa.5

Flamella contains the following species:

  • F. aegyptia Michel & Smirnov, 1999
  • F. arnhemensis Kudryavtsev et al. 2009
  • F. balnearia Kudryavtsev et al. 2009
  • F. citrensis Bovee 1956
  • F. fluviatilis Kudryavtsev et al. 2009
  • F. lacustris Michel & Smirnov, 1999
  • F. magnifica Schaeffer, 1926 — the type species.
  • F. piscinae Brown & Walthall in Walthall et al. 20166
  • F. tiara Fishbeck & Bovee 1993
References

References

  1. Michel, Rolf; Smirnov, Alexey V. (1999). "The genus Flamella Schaeffer, 1926 (lobosea, gymnamoebia), with description of two new species". European Journal of Protistology. 35 (4): 403–410. doi:10.1016/S0932-4739(99)80049-2.
  2. Kudryavtsev, Alexander; Wylezich, Claudia; Schlegel, Martin; Walochnik, Julia; Michel, Rolf (2009). "Ultrastructure, SSU rRNA Gene Sequences and Phylogenetic Relationships of Flamella Schaeffer, 1926 (Amoebozoa), with Description of Three New Species". Protist. 160 (1): 21–40. doi:10.1016/j.protis.2008.09.004.
  3. Schaeffer, Asa Arthur (1926). Taxonomy of the amebas with descriptions of thirty-nine new marine and freshwater species. Papers from the Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Institute of Washington. Vol. 24. Washington: Carnegie Institute of Washington. pp. 1–116.
  4. Hess, Sebastian; Suthaus, Andreas (2022). "The Vampyrellid Amoebae (Vampyrellida, Rhizaria)". Protist. 173 (1) 125854. doi:10.1016/j.protis.2021.125854. PMID 35091168.
  5. Adl, Sina M.; Bass, David; Lane, Christopher E.; Lukeš, Julius; Schoch, Conrad L.; et al. (26 September 2018). "Revisions to the Classification, Nomenclature, and Diversity of Eukaryotes". The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 66 (1): 4–119. doi:10.1111/JEU.12691. PMC 6492006. PMID 30257078.
  6. Walthall, Austin C.; Tice, Alexander K.; Brown, Matthew W. (25 August 2016). "A New Species of Flamella (Amoebozoa, Variosea, Gracilipodida) Isolated from a Freshwater Pool in Southern Mississippi, USA". Acta Protozoologica. 55 (2): 111–117. doi:10.4467/16890027ap.16.010.4945.
External links