Observations on soil haptorid ciliates (Protozoa,Ciliophora) from Slovakia

The morphology and morphometry of five soil haptorid ciliates (Apospathidium terricola, Diplites telmatobius, Armatoenchelys geleii, Paraenchelys terricola, and Spathidium aciculare), collected from a variety of terrestrial habitats in Slovakia (Central Europe), were investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation. Emphasis was given on the ciliary pattern, the fine structure of dorsal brush, as well as the shape and size of the extrusomes. The Slovak specimens of A. geleii differ considerably from other populations investigated in detail by body size and micronuclei number. Furthermore, the most important difference concerns the number of dorsal brush rows (4 vs. 3). Therefore, it was decided to establish a new subspecies, namely Armatoenchelys geleii barborae ssp. n., for the Slovak population. Shape and nuclear variants of A. terricola and P. terricola are presented and morphometrically characterized. Novel details on the dorsal brush structure of A. terricola and D. telmatobius are reported. Pair formation and exconjugant nuclear reconstruction in P. terricola are described. Two species, namely A. terricola and S. aciculare, are first records for the Holoarctic biogeographic region.