Species composition of testate amoebae in Lake Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

We aimed to perform the first survey of testate amoebae community composition in Lake Monte Alegre at Sao Paulo state, and contribute to mitigate the taxonomic impediment regarding the diversity of testate amoebae in Brazil. Samplings were performed in 20 sampling sites within the lake, in the limnetic and littoral regions in April 2015, using a 58 µm-meshplankton net. We identified 20 taxa of testate amoebae belonging to four families: Arcellidae (8 taxa), Centropyxidae (4 taxa), Difflugiidae (7 taxa) and Lesquereusiidae (2 taxa). The littoral region showed the highest number of taxa (n = 20), whereas in the limnetic region 11 taxa were registered. Therefore, our results evidenced the importance of testate amoebae in aquatic systems, and that further research, taxonomic and/or ecological, in those environments should include these organisms in their investigation. Moreover, we suggest that future research with greater sampling effort is necessary to expand the identification of possible cryptic species in this environment.