Re-discovery of Lieberkuehnia wageneri Claparède et Lachmann, 1859 (Rhizaria, Foraminifera): Taxonomical and Morphological Studies Based on a Slovak Population

Lieberkuehnia wageneri Claparède et Lachmann, 1859, a poorly known freshwater foraminiferan, was re-discovered after 38 years in a moss sample from an oak-hornbeam forest in Malé Karpaty Mts. (Western Slovakia). The species was taxonomically revised, re-described using light microscopical observations, and its occurrence and ecology were reviewed. Its locomotive form is typical with membranous and flexible ovoid test having a single terminal aperture from which a broad pseudopodial network emerges on a pseudopodial peduncle. Additional data and details are described, illustrated and discussed. Lieberkuehnia wageneri is known from various freshwater, soil and marine habitats in Western and Middle Europe, suggesting a high ecological tolerance and wide distribution. It is hoped that the observations reported in this paper will aid the identification of this species based on the locomotive morphology at the light microscopical level.