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A New Species of the Genus Metacystis (Ciliophora, Prostomatida, Metacystidae) from a Wastewater Treatment Plant
Author(s) -
ARREGUI LUCÍA,
PÉREZUZ BLANCA,
ZORNOZA ANDRÉS,
SERRANO SUSANA
Publication year - 2010
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.1550-7408.2010.00484.x
Subject(s) - biology , protozoa , genus , botany , ciliata , population , wastewater , protist , contractile vacuole , activated sludge , vacuole , zoology , ecology , biochemistry , demography , sociology , cytoplasm , gene , engineering , waste management
. Unusual prostomatid specimens were found in the biological reactor of a wastewater treatment plant in a health resort in Valencia, Spain. These ciliates were attached to flocs unlike other free‐swimming prostomatid ciliates described to date in the mixed liquor of activated sludge plants. The morphological study of this species led to a typically different combination of characteristics: elongated cell shape, 20–30 somatic kineties, 2 perioral kineties, and 1 circumoral kinety, 1 large vacuole protruding at the terminal end, a lorica tapered toward the aperture with a smooth neck, and 11–16 annular ridges. These characteristics place this representative as a new species of the genus Metacystis — Metacystis galiani n. sp. This species became the dominant population within the biological reactor when high values of conductivity (4,244 mS/cm) and temperature (26.8 °C) were recorded.