Mantamonads are a group of Motility heterotrophic that move primarily by gliding on surfaces (rather than swimming). They are classified as one genus Mantamonas in the monotypic family Mantamonadidae, order Mantamonadida and class Glissodiscea.
Morphology
Mantamonas are
heterotrophic unicellular . Their cells are flattened, relatively plastic and asymmetric. They have one thin anterior flagellum and one conspicuous posterior
flagellum, on which they
gliding motility. The cells have a right hump, likely caused by the nucleus, and a blunt projection on the left side. They are typically 2 μm thick,
5 μm long and 5 μm wide, but vary in size and shape depending on their growth phase and the
density in the
culture medium.
When wide-shaped, they present lateral "wings" that resemble the fins of a
manta ray (hence the name
Mantamonas).
Ecology
Mantamonas are
marine life gliding motility heterotrophic .
M. plastica was isolated from marine sediments, while
M. vickermani was isolated from marine
lagoon sediments.
M. sphyraenae was obtained from the skin surface of a
barracuda, suggesting that it could be an
epizootic species.
Evolution
When discovered in 2011, a phylogenetic analysis based on 28S and 18S rRNA recovered
Mantamonas as a lineage closely related to
Planomonadida and
Apusomonadida, within the
paraphyletic Apusozoa.
Later in 2018, a
phylogenomic analysis recovered
Mantamonas as the
sister group of a clade comprising
Collodictyonidae and
Rigifilida. Together, the three groups compose the
CRuMs clade, which is the sister group to
Amorphea (
Amoebozoa +
Obazoa) in a clade known as
Podiata.
Species
There are currently three species of
Mantamonas.
-
Mantamonas plastica
-
Mantamonas sphyraenae
-
Mantamonas vickermani
