Redescription of Lagenophrys eupagurus Kellicott (Ciliophora, Peritricha, Lagenophryidae) and a Comparison of It with Three Similar Species

Lagenophrys eupagurus , a poorly known loricate peritrich ectocommensal on the hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus , has been rediscovered and is redescribed. Lagenophrys lunatus and L. articularis were found to be conspecific with L. eupagurus based on close similarities, especially with regard to structure of the lorica aperture and proportions of the lorica. Lagenophrys callinectes , although resembling L. eupagurus , was determined to be a separate species because of distinct, consistent differences in structure of the lorica aperture and proportions of the lorica. Lagenophrys eupagurus and L. callinectes share some features of the lorica aperture with 3 other species of Lagenophrys , prompting the speculation that the 5 species may constitute a cluster of related species within the genus. Lagenophrys eupagurus utilizes a relatively wide variety of hosts compared to other species of Lagenophrys and appears to subsist mainly on phytoplankton. In some cases, the feeding behavior of the host may assist L. eupagurus in obtaining food. Lagenophrys callinectes appears to be restricted to brachyuran crabs of the genus Callinectes. It appears to be a bacterivore and is probably assisted in obtaining food by the preference of its hosts for estuarine areas that are rich in organic material.     

Revision of the family Lagenophryidae Bütschli, 1889 and description of the family Usconophryidae n. fam. (Ciliophora, Peritricha).

Ten species of lagenophryid peritrichs in three genera are redescribed or described for the first time. Based on this information, the family Lagenophryidae was found to consist of five genera: Lagenophrys, Paralagenophrys, Clistolagenophrys n. g., Setonophrys, and Operculigera. Lagenophryid genera differ in gross structure of the lorica aperture and the peristomial sphincter associated with it. Shape of the lorica and mode of attachment to the host are not generic characteristics in the Lagenophryidae. Differences in shape evolved within each of the three largest lagenophryid genera merely as adaptations for attachment to different parts of a host. Usconophrys, formerly in the Lagenophryidae, and Cyclodonta are assigned to the family Usconophryidae n. fam., which is characterized by possession of a lorica, lack of a closure apparatus operated by the peristomial sphincter, and possession of an operculariform peristome. Lagenophrys, Setonophrys, and Paralagenophrys appear to have evolved separately and convergently from ancestors within Operculigera. Lagenophryid lorica apertures consisting of opposing lips probably evolved as tight seals to prevent water loss when the host is temporarily out of water. The greater diversity and wider distribution of Lagenophrys compared with other lagenophryid genera may result from an advantage in recolonizing hosts conferred by second-type division.     

First record of Conidophrys pilisuctor (Ciliophora:Pilisuctorida) as ectosymbiont of Hyalella azteca from Mexico

The pilisuctorid ciliate Conidophrys pilisuctor is recorded for the first time as ectosymbiont of the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca collected in Pátzcuaro Lake, Michoacán, Mexico. The morphometrical data of several phases of its life cycle (except free tomites) and of its prevalence on the host’s body regions are presented. The pilisuctorid was observed attached exclusively to the setae of various appendages from which those of the pereiopods and antennae had the greatest prevalences. However, the results of χ² tests show that there was not a homogeneous ciliate preference for the body regions of H. azteca. From the cluster analysis, several regions presented a greater degree of similarity according to prevalence and presence--absence of the ciliate. Some aspects are considered for the establishment of symbiosis.     

Revision of the Family Lagenophryidae Bütschli, 1889 and Description of the Family Usconophryidae N. Fam. (Ciliophora,Peritricha)1

Ten species of lagenophryid peritrichs in three genera are redescribed or described for the first time. Based on this information, the family Lagenophryidae was found to consist of five genera: Lagenophrys, Paralagenophrys, Clistolagenophrys n. g., Setonophrys, and Operculigera. Lagenophryid genera differ in gross structure of the lorica aperture and the peristomial sphincter associated with it. Shape of the lorica and mode of attachment to the host are not generic characteristics in the Lagenophryidae. Differences in shape evolved within each of the three largest lagenophryid genera merely as adaptations for attachment to different parts of a host. Usconophrys, formerly in the Lagenophryidae, and Cyclodonta are assigned to the family Usconophryidae n. fam., which is characterized by possession of a lorica, lack of a closure apparatus operated by the peristomial sphincter, and possession of an operculariform peristome. Lagenophrys, Setonophrys, and Paralagenophrys appear to have evolved separately and convergently from ancestors within Operculigera. Lagenophryid lorica apertures consisting of opposing lips probably evolved as tight seals to prevent water loss when the host is temporarily out of water. The greater diversity and wider distribution of Lagenophrys compared with other lagenophryid genera may result from an advantage in recolonizing hosts conferred by second-type division.     

New Species of Lagenophrys (Ciliophora,Peritrichia) from New Zealand and Australia1

Lagenophrys novazealandae n. sp. occurs on the gills of Paranephrops zealandicus, a parastacid crayfish from New Zealand. The new species has the hemispheroidal lorica most common among members of its genus and is distinguished by its possession of large tubercles on the thickened edge of the anterior lip of the lorica aperture, a deep cleft in the left side of the lip's edge, and a ovoid to reniform macronucleus located in the right-hand part of the body. It is probable that an as yet unnamed species of Lagenophrys known to occur on another species of Paranephrops in New Zealand is distinct from L. novazealandae but phylogenetically related to it. Lagenophrys petila n. sp. occurs on setae of Parastacoides tasmanicus, a parastacid from Tasmania. The new species has an ovoid lorica tapering to a slender pseudostalk at the posterior end, a type of lorica possessed by only two other members of its genus that also attach to their host's setae. It is distinguished from the other ovoid species by the proportions of the lorica, the extreme shortness of the lips of the lorica aperture, and an ovoid macronucleus located in the right, anterior part of the body. Clefts in the lips of L. novazealandae and other members of Lagenophrys may function as points of flexure to allow the lips to bend in ways that accommodate interspecific differences in the size of the epistomial disk and its operation during suspension feeding.     

Lagenophrys anticthos N. Sp. and L. aegleae Mouchet-Bennati, 1932 (Ciliophora,Peritricha, Lagenophryidae), Ectocommensals of South American Crustaceans1

ABSTRACT. Lagenophrys anticthos n. sp. resembles L. aegleae Mouchet-Bennati; however, the two species are distinguished from one another by differences in the structure of the lorica aperture. Similarities in the shape of the lorica and macronucleus indicate a close phylogenetic relationship between L. anticthos and L. aegleae. The size of L. anticthos varies greatly within a population, and it is unclear whether this can be attributed to genetic differences or to environmental factors. In L. anticthos, variation in the form of the lips of the lorica aperture is correlated with variation in size. The brown, iron-rich incrustations observed around the loricae of L. aegleae by an earlier worker were not seen, indicating that the incrustations do not play a role in the symbiosis between L. aegleae and its host as was previously thought.     

Metacystis borrori n. sp. (Ciliophora: Metacystidae) on the seagrass Thalassia testudinum

A new epibiontic ciliate of the genus Metacystis is described on the seagrass Thalassia testudinum of the coral reef lagoons of Veracruz, Mexico. The ciliate was studied in living and stained specimens and under the scanning electron microscope. The cell body (10-35 x 10-18 microm in vivo) is transversely annulated (4-6 rings). The somatic ciliature consists of 22-30 longitudinal kineties, and patterned as 5-7 transverse kineties. The circumoral kinety is composed of kinetosomes closely spaced. The macronucleus diameter measures about 3-7 microm. The lorica (18-61 x 11-26 microm) has the posterior end round to conical or irregular with mucoid filaments. This prostomatid colonizes both natural and artificial substrates placed in an aquarium. Metacystis borrori n. sp. is a species that forms part of the ciliate community on Thalassia testudinum with a temperature range of 21-26 degrees C and a salinity of 32-40 per thousand.     

THE NEAR-SPINELESS TRACHELOMONAS GRANDIS (EUGLENOPHYCEAE) SUPERFICIALLY APPEARS SPINY BY ATTRACTING BACTERIA TO ITS SURFACE1,2

Trachelomonas grandis Singh has a mucilaginous, highly porous mineralized lorica (envelope) generally without ornamentation except occasionally for a few short, tapered, anterior or posterior spines. However, as our first cultures of this species aged, rod-shaped structures appeared on the loricas. That these surface projections were bacteria was determined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The bacteria, 2-6 μm long with rounded apices, were oriented perpendicular to the exterior lorica surface and were attached on one end by apically produced tie-down fibers. The bacteria also secreted fibers over their entire surface, forming a network between them that collapsed during specimen preparation for scanning electron microscopy. The density of the surface bacteria increased with time until the lorica took on a “spiny” appearance superficially similar to lorica extensions of algal origin. In mature algal specimens, an estimated 1200-1800 bacteria per lorica occurred as a monolayer, the maximum number related to the surface area of the lorica available for bacterial colonization. The bacteria, always motionless while attached, showed putative evidence of budding. Fission formed short chains of up to three cells on the lorica. Our cultures maintained this association for 8 years (1972-1979). However, cultures ordered for further study in the past year have failed to develop loricas with more than just a few bacterial cells, and most have none.     

Ultrastructural and Protargol Studies of Lagenophrys callinectes* (Ciliophora: Peritrichida)

Ultrastructural and protargol studies reveal that the trophont of Lagenophrys callinectes, though highly specialized, generally conforms to the basic peritrich structural pattern. Features described for L. callinectes trophonts which are unique for the genus are the fine structure and arrangement of the lorica and lips, the attachment organelle of the peristomial cytoplasm, its attachment to the loricastome walls, and the arrangement of the aboral kinetosomes of the trophont. Lack of a distinct scopularized region, and of a ventral lorica wall also characterize L. callinectes trophonts. The 4-row terminal peniculus, as revealed by protargol staining, differs from the 6-row terminal peniculus of L. nassa suggesting that the patterns of infundibular structure, as revealed by protargol, should be useful in future taxonomic studies of Lagenophrys species.     

Redescription of the little-known marine ciliate,Stichotricha marina Stein, 1867 (Ciliophora,Hypotrichida) from the mantle cavity of cultured scallops

The morphology and infraciliature of an ectocommensal ciliate, Stichotricha marinaStein, 1867, isolated from the mantle cavity of marine scallops near Qingdao, China were redescribed using the protargol impregnation method. Based on the present studies, a new diagnosis is suggested: body twisted and flexible, in vivo about 160–200 μm with elongated body shape; peristomial field narrowed and neck-like, about half of body length; ca. 70 adoral membranelles, two clearly differentiated frontal cirri; 27–41 buccal cirri, arranged in one long row along with buccal field; transverse cirri absent; three complete dorsal kineties and three caudal cirri. Consistently two macronuclear nodules, and gelatinous lorica tube-like; marine habitat.     

A case-building Spirostomum (Ciliophora,Heterotrichida) with zoochlorellae

A 1 mm-long Spirostomum with symbiotic chlorellae has been found in the oxygen-depleted sediment of a shallow fen pond in the South of England (UK). The ciliate lives amongst sediment debris, where it builds a lorica that covers about half the length of the ciliate. It is common to find several of the green Spirostomum cells sharing the same patch of sediment particles.     

Redescription of Favella ehrenbergii (Claparède and Lachmann, 1858) Jörgensen, 1924 (Ciliophora: Choreotrichia), with Phylogenetic Analyses Based on Small Subunit rRNA Gene Sequences

ABSTRACT. The identification of Favella ehrenbergii, a marine planktonic ciliate, has largely been based on its lorica features. This approach is potentially problematic given the polymorphic lorica during this organism's life cycle. We isolated a population of F. ehrenbergii from the coastal waters of Incheon, Korea, and revealed its infraciliature using the protargol staining method. Phylogenetic analysis based on small subunit rRNA gene sequences was also performed. Results showed that this population possessed 16 collar membranelles (CM) and about 100 somatic kineties. These features are highly conserved, even in later dividers. As such, the number of CM and somatic kineties can be used as key characteristics for identification of Favella species.     

Mycorrhizal perennials of the "matorral xerófilo" and the "selva baja caducifolia" communities in the semiarid Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley,Mexico

We investigated the mycorrhizal status of perennial xeric plant species occurring in the "matorral xerófilo" (arid tropical scrub) and the ecotone of the "selva baja caducifolia" (tropical deciduous forest) communities in the semiarid valley of Tehuacán-Cuicatlán, south-central Mexico. The perennial species examined are dominant/codominant elements within the "matorral xerófilo" and the "selva baja caducifolia", both endangered communities in the Biosphere Reserve Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley. Of the 50 sampled species, 45 were mycorrhizal. To our knowledge, we report arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) for the first time in 37 species, of which 21 are endemic to Mexico and nine are endemic to the Valley. We also report AM for the first time in three genera, Buddleja, Hechtia and Zornia, and in one plant family, Buddlejaceae. Beaucarnea gracilis, a threatened species, and Mimosa purpusii, a potentially rare species, are both mycorrhizal. This is the first study of the mycorrhizal status of plant species within the Valley.