Growth of the peritrich epibiont Zoothamnium intermedium Precht, 1935 (Ciliophora, Peritrichia) estimated from laboratory experiments

Abstract

Peritrich ciliates are commonly found colonizing living substrates. Although this a well known phenomenon, biological aspects of this relationship need to be studied in more detail. Assessment of growth rates in peritrichs has been the subject of very few studies. Only species in the genera Carchesium Ehrenberg, 1830 and Vorticella Linnaeus, 1767 had their growth rates evaluated in the field and in the laboratory. In the present study, growth, colonization (colonies/host), and proliferation (zooids/colony) rates of the peritrich epibiont Zoothamnium intermedium Precht, 1935 attached to the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa Dana 1848 were evaluated in the laboratory in two food regimes: bacteria only, and algal based diet. Results showed that growth, colonization, and proliferation rates were similar for both diets. Maximum growth rates obtained for Z. intermedium was 0.85 and 0.83 per day, for bacteria and algae respectively. Maximum colonization rates were 0.5 per day for both diets, and the maximum proliferation rates were 0.44 and 0.42 per day for bacteria and algae respectively. These results demonstrate that Z. intermedium is able to grow at the same rate of other peritrichs on bacterial and algal based diets.

Ciliates as Symbionts

“…Historically, studies involving epibiont ciliates focus on the following interests: new records and checklists [27,28], descriptions of new taxa using morphological and molecular data [150], possible deleterious effects on hosts [149,151], distribution and preferred sites of epibiont populations and communities [152], spatial and temporal distribution of the epibiotic relationship [153], laboratory rearing and experimentation studies [154][155][156], and even investigations into extrinsic and intrinsic factors involved in the kinetics of epibiont ciliate populations [157,158].…”

Diversity and distribution of ciliated protozoans on the mangrove leaf litters of Rhizophora apiculata

“…Ciliates associated with mangrove leaf litters such as Oligotrichia, Hypotrichia and Peritricha were the important detritivores that showed a characteristic role in nutrient cycling (Utz 2008;Li et al 2010). They are the main bacterial consumers who showed some special characteristics such as modified oral cilia, short generation times, and rapid multiplication (Li et al 2010).…”