Aktasia exarthromenos Varol, in prep.
Small species of Aktasia (< 6.0 µm) have an asymmetrical diagonal cross with a dislocated, longer arm.
From Greek exarthromenos, meaning ‘dislocated’, referring to the displaced arm of the asymmetrical diagonal cross.
Maximum length: 4.3µm, Maximum width: 3.0µm
Small species of Aktasia (< 6.0 µm) have a zeugoid outer wall and a protolith inner wall composed of eight large sub-quadrilateral segments. The central area is spanned by a single-row, segmental, asymmetrical diagonal cross whose longer arm is dislocated along the shorter arm and lacks a distal process.
In plan view under XPL, the inner wall and asymmetrical diagonal cross display a white interference colour, whereas the zeugoid outer wall is in constant extinction, indicating that the optical axis (c-axis) is perpendicular to the microscope stage.