On the occurrence of testate amoebae (Protozoa, Amoebozoa, Rhizopoda) in Brazilian inland waters. III. Family Difflugiidae: Genus <em>Difflugia</em>

Abstract

Among the testate amoebae the genus Difflugia contains the largest number of species, comprising about three hundred named species, varieties and forms. Testate amoebae fauna, more intensively studied in recent years in Brazil, hailed from a variety of different habitats such as sediments, aquatic macrophytes and the plankton. However, these studies have been limited to few geographic regions. In this study we furnish current information on the geographic distribution and occurrence of the species of genus Difflugia in Brazilian inland waters. Taxonomic information is also provided. A total of 60 infra-generic taxa is listed, among which Difflugia corona Wallich, D. lobostoma Leidy, D. oblonga Ehrenberg, D. urceolata Carter and D. acuminate Ehrenberg are the most frequent and the most widespread in freshwater environments in Brazil