Planocarina (from Latin planus 'flat', and carina 'keel') is a genus of arcellinid testate amoebae belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae.[2] It was created in 2016 to agglutinate a clade of species that were previously assigned to the paraphyletic genus Nebela. All species of Planocarina have a compressed keel surrounding the posterior part of their shell.[1] It is the sister group of Alabasta.[3]
| Planocarina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| P. carinata | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Phylum: | Amoebozoa |
| Class: | Tubulinea |
| Order: | Arcellinida |
| Family: | Hyalospheniidae |
| Genus: | Planocarina Kosakyan, Lahr, Mulot, Meisterfeld, Mitchell & Lara 2016[1] |
| Type species | |
| Planocarina carinata (Archer 1867) Kosakyan, Lahr, Mulot, Meisterfeld, Mitchell & Lara 2016[1] | |
| Species | |
| |
Morphology
Members of Planocarina have an elongated, pyriform test with a distinct neck, and lateral margins tapering towards the test opening. The posterior part of the test is surrounded entirely by a flat keel. The test hyaline or slightly yellowish in color, composed of circular and elongated scales recycled from the organism's prey, such as euglyphid testate amoeba.[1]
Classification
Planocarina contains all former species of Nebela that have a flat keel, with the exception of those that have a lateral horn, which are assigned to Cornutheca. There are 4 species in total:[1]
- Planocarina carinata (Archer 1867) Kosakyan, Lahr, Mulot, Meisterfeld, Mitchell & Lara 2016 (=Nebela carinata (Archer 1867) Leidy 1879)
- Planocarina marginata (Penard 1902) Kosakyan, Lahr, Mulot, Meisterfeld, Mitchell & Lara 2016 (=Nebela marginata Penard 1902)
- Planocarina maxima (Awerintzew 1907) Kosakyan, Lahr, Mulot, Meisterfeld, Mitchell & Lara 2016 (=Nebela maxima Awerintzew 1907)
- Planocarina spumosa (Awerintzew 1907) Kosakyan, Lahr, Mulot, Meisterfeld, Mitchell & Lara 2016 (=Nebela spumosa Awerintzew 1907)