Taxonomic studies on a new marine ciliate, Apocoleps magnus gen. nov., spec. nov. (Ciliophora, Colepidae), isolated from Qingdao, China

Abstract

Taxonomic Studies on a New Marine Ciliate, Apocoleps magnus gen. nov., spec. nov. (Abstract The morphology and infraciliature of a new marine colepid ciliate, Apocoleps magnus gen. nov., spec. nov., are described based on living observations and silver impregnations. The new genus Apocoleps is characterized by having 8 (vs. 6 in most other related genera) armour tiers, spines at both ends of the cell, 3 adoral organelles and plates with 4 reniform uni-windows. Apocoleps magnus spec. nov. is defined by the following features: body elongated and slightly curved, about 100-120μm× 35-45 μm in vivo; anterior tertiary tier plate with four uni-windows, most secondary and main tier plates with four uni-windows, posterior tertiary tier plate with two uni-windows; left plate margin slightly serrated; on average 23 transverse and 22 longitudinal ciliary rows; one terminal contractile vacuole; marine habitat.

Morphological Description and Molecular Phylogeny of Two Species of Levicoleps (Ciliophora, Prostomatida), L. taehwae nov. spec. and L. biwae jejuensis nov. subspec., collected in Korea

“…Recently, several new species have been discovered, especially in the poorly studied interstitial of large freshwater lakes and sandy marine shores (Chen et al. , , ; Foissner et al. ; Lu et al.…”

Taxonomic descriptions of three marine colepid ciliates, Nolandia sinica spec. nov., Apocoleps caoi spec. nov. and Tiarina fusa (Claparède & Lachmann, 1858) Bergh, 1881 (Ciliophora, Prorodontida)

“…(d) Lateral view, showing the ciliary pattern of A. caoi . (e) Apocoleps magnus Chen et al , 2009 (from Chen et al , 2009). (f) Ciliary pattern of anterior end of A. caoi .…”

“…(h) Kotinia heterolobata (Obolkina, 1995) Obolkina in Aescht, 2001 (from Obolkina, 1995). (i) Detail of armour plate of A. magnus (from Chen et al , 2009). AS, anterior spine; CC, caudal cilium; CK, circumoral kinety; CV, contractile vacuole; IB, inner oral basket; Ma, macronucleus; PC, perioral ciliary; PS, posterior spine; SK, somatic kinety.…”

“…The majority of colepids have been isolated from freshwater (Dragesco & Dragesco-Kernéis, 1991; Foissner et al , 1999, 2008; Huttenlauch, 1987; Huttenlauch & Bardele, 1987; Kahl, 1930, 1933; Noland, 1925, 1937; Obolkina, 1995). By contrast, marine habitats are poorly studied and it is likely that many marine colepids await discovery (Chen et al , 2009, 2010).…”

Taxonomical reinvestigation of the colepid species Pinacocoleps pulcher (Spiegel, 1926) Foissner et al., 2008 (Ciliophora: Prorodontida: Colepidae)

“…By contrast, P. pulcher showed a sister relationship with the Apocoleps clade (genetic distances of 0.2-0.4%). Pinacocoleps pulcher differs from Apocoleps by the number of tiers (six vs. eight) and the plate window (absent vs. present; Chen et al 2009). Based on the phylogenetic tree, it could be assumed that the number of tiers and the presence/absence of plate window might not be useful characters for distinguishing between the genera.…”