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Urotricha psenneri n. sp. and Amphileptus piger (Vuxanovici, 1962) n. comb., Two Planktonic Ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) from an Oligotrophic Lake in Austria
Author(s) -
SONNTAG BETTINA,
FOISSNER WILHELM
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of eukaryotic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 1066-5234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2004.tb00607.x
Subject(s) - ciliate , biology , protozoa , macronucleus , basal body , contractile vacuole , ciliata , picoplankton , annulus (botany) , paramecium , ultrastructure , anatomy , zoology , botany , bacteria , ecology , vacuole , paleontology , cytoplasm , flagellum , biochemistry , cyanobacteria
Two euplanktonic ciliates, Urotricha psenneri n. sp. (Prostomatida) and Amphileptus piger (Vuxanovici, 1962) n. comb. (Pleurostomatida), were discovered in the surface plankton of the oligotrophic Lake Traunsee in Austria. Their morphology and infra‐ciliature were studied in live cells as well as in specimens impregnated with protargol and silver nitrate. Urotricha psenneri is a small urotrichid, less than 50 μm length and with a single caudal cilium. It is unique in having (i) a massive oral basket projecting as a conspicuous bulge with cylindrical microfibrillar annulus and (ii) a curved brosse row 1 in the broad, barren circumoral area. Amphileptus piger (Vuxanovici, 1962) is about 55 × 13 μm in vivo, has two macronuclear nodules with a single micronucleus in between in the posterior body half, has a single contractile vacuole with a terminal excretory pore, and few, but thick and thus highly conspicuous extrusomes. The amphileptid ciliary pattern (spica) is difficult to recognise due to the widely spaced basal bodies.