There are five "o"s in Poterioochromonas. Some authors mistakenly leave one out (Poteriochromonas).
Although the genus was described in 1901, species of Poterioochromonas were commonly included in the genus Ochromonas until 1969, and in some places they are still listed or described under Ochromonas. The two genera are separated primarily on the basis of "presence or absence of lorica" (Poterioochromonas species have loricas, Ochromonas species lack them - indeed, Ochromonas cells typically lack any cell covering other than the plasma membrane).
The two species names that appear most frequently are P. malhamensis (Pringsheim) Péterfi and P. stipitata Scherffel, but these two may be one and the same, in which case P. stipitata (not P. malhamensis as in some references) is correct. "Ochromonas sociabilis" of Pringsheim is also referrable to Poterioochromonas, and possibly to P. stipitata. Cultures labelled "Ochromonas" should be checked to ensure that they do not actually belong to Poterioochromonas.
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