Morphological studies on some free living ciliates (Ciliophora: Heterotrichida, Hypotrichida) from marine biotopes in Qingdao, China, with descriptions of three new species: Holosticha warreni nov. spec, Tachysoma ovata nov. spec. and T. dragescoi nov. spec.

Caryotricha minuta (Xu et al., 2008) nov. comb., a unique marine ciliate (Protista, Ciliophora, Spirotrichea), with phylogenetic analysis of the ambiguous genus Caryotricha inferred from the small-subunit rRNA gene sequence

“…Xu et al (2008) described this organism as a novel species of Kiitricha (K. minuta). Considering the definition suggested by Song & Wilbert (1997), however, the genus Kiitricha is diagnosed by the lack of the migratory row (present in Caryotricha) but having clearly differentiated TC which are arranged in a complete row (variable in number and size and positioned in two rows in Caryotricha, thus lower in differentiation considering their development). In addition, the dorsal ciliature is mixed with normal cirral rows in Kiitricha; that is, some kineties consist of normal cirri and dikinetids with both kinetosomes ciliated.…”

“…Ciliates were isolated on 30 May 2007 from Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, China (36u 089 N 120u 439 E), from a water sample with temperature 18 uC, pH~8.0 and salinity~31 %. Microscopy observations, impregnation and terminology are according to Wilbert (1975) and Song & Wilbert (1997).…”

“…Moreover, given the distinctly primitive ciliature (i.e. cirri on the ventral side generally uniform, no clearly defined marginal cirral rows, ciliature on the dorsal side mixed with cirri and dikinetids, no clearly differentiated dorsal kineties; Song & Wilbert, 1997;Lynn & Small, 2002;Li et al, 2009), the genus Caryotricha, as well as Kiitricha, might represent an ancestral type within the spirotrichs.…”

“…The taxonomy of the spirotrichs, as a distinct and highly divergent ciliate assemblage, has been subjected to numerous revisions, resulting in contradictory classification schemes (Small & Lynn, 1981;Carey, 1992;Lynn, 1996;Song & Wilbert, 1997). In ciliates, the systematic arrangements of some less-common organisms are often ambiguous because of a lack of ontogenetic and molecular data or different views regarding the significance of the presence/absence of some 'key' morphological structures (Corliss, 1979;Small & Lynn, 1985;De Puytorac et al, 1994;Shin et al, 2000;Lynn & Small, 2002).…”

Parabirojimia multinucleata spec. nov. and Anteholosticha scutellum (Cohn, 1866) Berger, 2003, marine ciliates (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) from tropical waters in southern China, with notes on their small-subunit rRNA gene sequences

“…1 mm), ellipsoid and flattened with a central depression (spherical), and arranged dorsally in three loosely organized rows (scattered randomly over the dorsal side) ( Table 3; Fig. 4j-l) (Song & Wilbert, 1997a). Borror & Wicklow (1983) made a detailed redescription of a form they called A. scutellum.…”