A Case Study on Rhizopoda (Protozoa) Fauna of Temple Premises from Kancheepuram District, Tamilnadu

The present investigation was made from several temple premises of Kancheepuram district, viz., Kamatchi Amman temple, Ulagalandha Perumal temple, Kaleeswarar temple, Sri Adi Parameswari Kalikambal temple and Kumarakottam temple, which are famous heritage places in Tamil Nadu, southern part of India. The samples from soil, trees, gardens, water tanks, walls, etc., from the temple premises were collected. From the analyses of these samples, 9 species of rhizopoda under 4 genera and 3 families, viz., Arcellidae, Centropyxidae and Euglyphidae belonging to 2 orders, viz., Testacealobosa and Testaceafi losa were recorded. These protozoan species are reported for the fi rst time from these heritage premises of Tamil Nadu.