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]
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]
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 (from Latin planus 'flat', and carina 'keel') is a genus of arcellinid testate amoebae belonging to the family Hyalospheniidae. 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. It is the sister group of Alabasta.
