Thecamoeba astrologa n. sp. - A new species of the genus Thecamoeba (Amoebozoa, Discosea, Thecamoebida) with an unusually polymorphic nuclear structure.

Thecamoeba astrologa n. sp. was isolated from a plant litter sample. This species has a complex locomotive morphology, to a certain extent intermediate between the striate and the rugose morphotype. The shape of the actively moving cell is similar to that of striate thecamoebians, such as T. quadrilineata. However, in a slow movement, they can be easily confused with rugose species, like T. similis. Thecamoeba astrologa normally has peripheral asterisk-like nucleoli, which are unique among known thecamoebids. However, the structure of the nucleus is unusually variable during the growth of the culture and in some cases may become almost a vesicular one. The phylogenetic analysis based on the 18S rRNA gene sequence shows that this species belongs to the clade of thecamoebids, consisting of species possessing vesicular nuclei. This finding indicates that the structure of the nucleus derived from a single or few observations (as it usually happens in faunistic or ecological studies) may not be a reliable character of a thecamoebid amoeba. In some species nuclei may be highly polymorphic and dominating nuclear structure may depend on the age of the culture. Nuclei with constantly or temporarily peripheral nucleoli are now known in both major phylogenetic branches of the genus Thecamoeba.