A Comparative Analysis of the Morphology and Morphogenesis of Gonostomum strenua (Engelmann, 1862) (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) and Related Species

The morphology and morphogenesis of the hypotrichous ciliate, Gonostomum strenua, found in the soil of a hill in Qingdao (Tsingtao, 36°08’N, 120°43’E), People's Republic of China is described. Some characteristics (organization of the frontoventral cirral rows, origin of the primary primordium and arrangement of the marginal as well as transverse cirri) are sufficiently different from a closely related species Gonostomum affine to suggest that it is a separate species, though its body shape, nucleus and buccal apparatus are very similar to that of G. affine. A comparison of the infraciliatures of the two species is necessary since morphological characteristics alone are sometimes insufficient for species separation.