Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Protozoa at Cueva de Los Riscos, Querétaro, México

Abstract

Protozoa are important members of ecosystems, but protozoa that inhabit caves are poorly known worldwide. In this work, we present data on the record and distribution of thirteen protozoa species in four underground biotopes (water, soil, bat guano, and moss), at Cueva de Los Riscos. The samples were taken in six different months over more than a year. Protozoa species were ciliates (eight species), flagellates (three species), amoeboid (one species), and heliozoan (one species). Five of these species are reported for the first time inside cave systems anywhere, and an additional three species are new records for Mexican caves. Colpoda was the ciliate genera found in all cave zones sampled, and it inhabited the four biotopes together with Vorticella. The biotopes with the highest specific richness were the moss, sampled near the main cave entrance, and the temporary or permanent water bodies, with ten species each. The greatest number of species was observed in April 2006 (dry season). With the exception of water, all biotopes are studied for the first time.

Paramecium Diversity and a New Member of the Paramecium aurelia Species Complex Described from Mexico

“…Several Paramecium species, which we found in the current studies, were reported for the first time from these vast territories. To compensate the lack of knowledge about the Paramecium biogeography of Central America, we summarized the retrospective records of Paramecium according to [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]; all Paramecium records available from Mexico as well as Central and South America are shown in Table 4.…”

Transitional and small aquatic cave habitats diversification based on protist assemblages in the Veternica cave (Medvednica Mt., Croatia)

“…This result implies that the protist taxon richness could be higher compared to other animals inhabiting the caves. The six-month research of protists in the Mexican cave Cueva de Los Riscos (Sigala-Regalado et al 2011) revealed only 13 taxa of protists. The authors did not report of testate amoebae, even though they are very diverse in subterranean habitats (Mazei et al 2012).…”

Richness of protists in El Cajón dam, Querétaro, Mexico: temporal and spatial approximation

“…En México se tienen registradas alrededor de 146 especies de protistas flagelados heterótrofos (Mayén-Estrada et al, 2014a), 995 especies de ciliados de vida libre (Mayén-Estrada et al, 2014b) y 315 especies de amebas de vida libre (Gallegos-Neyra et al, 2014). Para el Estado de Querétaro solo se han registrado 13 taxones de protistas (Sigala-Regalado et al, 2011). Ante esta carencia de estudios, es importante aumentar los trabajos sobre estos importantes organismos en nuestro país, a fin de actualizar y contribuir al avance del estudio de protistas en México.…”