Biodiversity, Distribution and Ecology of Testate Amoebae (Arcellinida and Euglyphida) from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and the related brackish lakes. A Synthesis

The studies on the marine and freshwater testate amoebae of the Bulgarian Black Sea littoral and some related coastal brackish lakes are briefly reviewed. So far, a total of 184 species and subspecies of testate amoebae from 18 families and 45 genera from orders of Arcellinida and Euglyphida were published in national and international journals. The underground waters of the Bulgarian marine sand supralittoral are better studied than the related continental lakes. A total of about 45 species of marine interstitial testate amoebae are known, so far, and a big part of them were for the first time described from the Black Sea littoral. It’s interesting to note the presence in the marine underground waters of the Black Sea littoral of many freshwater testate amoebae also, considered by us as eurybionts. That is due of the low and variable salinity of the littoral Black Sea waters during the year. The presence of some psammobiotic testate amoebae as Psammonobiotus lineare and Corythionella georgiana in some related brackish lakes is also of ecological interest. The general conclusion of the present synthesis is that the testate amoebae fauna of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and the related with it many brackish and freshwater littoral lakes is few known yet and need more active researches.