A TAXONOMIC CATALOGUE OF FRESHWATER AND SOIL TESTACEA IN CHINA WITH A DISCUSSION OF THEIR FAUNAL SIMILARITY

The Testacea or testate amoeba comprises those amoeboid protozoas which are enveloped by a shell,within which the body can be completely withdrawn.sub Testacea belong to Kingdom Protozoa:Phylum Sarcomastigophora:Subphylum Sarcodina:Superclass Rhizopoda, including part of the Class Lobosea,Class Filosea and Class Granuloreticulosea.Ever since the 1920s,the collecting and studying of Testacea have been carried out in Nanjing,China by Chia Chi Wang.Subsequently,research areas were expanded to Beijing,Hubei,Tibetan Plateau,et al.Many papers and monographs were published in which 26 new species and subspecies belonging to 10 genera have been described.However,for many taxa,we knew nothing except the fact of their existence.It demands a great deal of further work in this field.The authors have listed all the species or genera of freshwater and soil Testacea reported in China.Removed some synonyms,244 taxa were presented.According to the current classification system,there were 244 species and subspecies belonging to 38 genera and 20 families.While 233 species and subspecies belonging to 37 genera were freshwater Testacea, 64 species and subspecies belonging to 18 genera were soil Testacea.This catalogue is the most comprehensive in China, therefore it will help to further advances in the researching of Testacea.Besides, in order to understand the biogeography of these organisms, the faunal similarity of freshwater Testacea in five areas(Xizang; Fanjingshan, Guizhou; Suoxiyu, Hunan; Lake Donghu, Hubei; Nanjing, Jiangsu) were analyzed using Jacard’s coefficent of similarity.The similarity value arranged in order of size between any two areas were 0.358 (Xizang-Fanjingshan) > 0.324 (Fanjingshan-Suoxiyu) > 0.282 (Xizang-Suoxiyu) > 0.228 (Fanjingshan-Donghu) > 0.194 (Suoxiyu-Donghu) > 0.140 (Xizang-Donghu)>0.094(Donghu-Nanjing)>0.091(Suoxiyu-Nanjing)>0.090 (Xizang-Nanjing) > 0.081 (Fanjingshan-Nanjing).The results, in the range of 0.081 to 0.358, suggested significant or medium difference in the faunal similarity between any two areas.Based on Jacard’s coefficent of similarity, a fuzzy matrix cluster analysis was performed.Data from the cluster analysis showed that the similarity relationships between Xizang and other four areas were Xizang-Fanjingshan (0.358) > Xizang-Suoxiyu (0.324) > Xizang-Lake Donghu (0.228) >Xizang-Nanjing (0.094).The similarity values showed obviously negative correlation with the field distance.But the topography and climatology need to be considered to reasonably explain the geographical distribution of the freshwater Testacea in five areas.