Two Remarkable Soil Spathidiids (Ciliophora: Haptorida), Arcuospathidium pachyoplites sp. n. and Spathidium faurefremieti nom. n.

Wilhelm Foissner

《Acta Protozoologica》 42卷2期 (2003/06) Pp. 145-159

並列摘要

This paper continues a series of studies on spathidiids, a group of free-living, rapacious ciliates with a high biodiversity. Arcuospathidium pachyoplites sp. n. was discovered in saline coastal soil from the Henry Pittier National Park in Venezuela, South America. Spathidium faurefremieti, originally described by Tucolesco (1962) from Rumanian cave water, was rediscovered in savannah soil from the Shimba Hills National Reserve in Kenya (Africa) and in floodplain soils of Brazil (South America) and Australia. The morphology of these species was investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation. The South American A. pachyoplites differs from the African A. vlassaki, possibly the nearest relative, mainly by the extrusomes and dorsal brush. Spathidium faurei Tucolesco, 1962 is an objective homonym of Spathidium faurei Kahl, 1930 and thus re-named: Spathidium faurefremieti nom. n. This species is remarkable in having a second contractile vacuole in anterior body half. However, conspecificity of the European and Kenyan populations is questionable; likewise, the Kenyan and Brazilian populations differ considerably, suggesting that further research might prove that all are different subspecies or even species. The present study shows that (i) an increased number of contractile vacuoles likely evolved independently three times, viz., in Spathidium, Arcuospathidium, and Supraspathidium, and (ii) the bivacuolate species should be separated from the polyvacuolate species, which can be referred to the genus Supraspathidium.

並列關鍵字

Australia ； biodiversity ； Brazil ； Kenya ； Supraspathidium ； terrestrial Protozoa ； Venezuela