Novel Reports of Testate Amoebae from Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa, India: Expanding the Protist Diversity Database of the Western Ghats

The Western Ghats are recognised for high biodiversity, but microscopic eukaryotic diversity remains poorly documented in many protected forest habitats. The present study surveyed moss-inhabiting testate amoebae from Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa, with the aim of documenting species occurrence and contributing baseline information on protist diversity from this underexplored region. Moss samples were collected from rocks, tree bark and walls within the sanctuary and processed using the non-flooded Petri dish method. Run-off water from the samples was examined microscopically for two to three weeks, depending on the availability of protozoan specimens. Observed testate amoebae were fixed, air-dried, mounted in Dibutylphthalate Polystyrene Xylene (DPX) and deposited as whole mounts in the National Zoological Collections of the Western Ghat Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode. A total of 17 species belonging to 8 genera and 7 families were recorded from the moss biotopes. The recorded taxa included representatives of Arcellidae, Netzeliidae, Difflugiidae, Centropyxidae, Hyalospheniidae, Euglyphidae and Trinematidae. According to the manuscript record, all species identified in the present survey represent new records for Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and Goa. The findings provide an initial account of moss-associated testate amoebae from the sanctuary and highlight the importance of including protists in biodiversity inventories of tropical forest ecosystems. Further surveys across additional habitats and seasons are needed to develop a more complete understanding of testate amoeba diversity in the region.