Taxonomic studies on Aegyria apoliva sp. nov. and Trithigmostoma cucullulus (Müller, 1786) Jankowski, 1967 (Ciliophora, Cyrtophoria) with phylogenetic analyses

Abstract

The morphology, including the ciliary pattern, of two cyrtophorid ciliates, namely Aegyria apoliva sp. nov. and Trithigmostoma cucullulus (Müller, 1786) Jankowski, 1967, were investigated. They were isolated from coastal water off Qingdao and from an estuarine habitat in south China, respectively. Aegyria apoliva sp. nov. is characterized as following: body size 100–120 × 50–70 μm in vivo with dark pigment spot on anterior left part of cell; 48–69 somatic kineties; one preoral and four or five circumoral kineties; 9–13 transpodial segments; 26–40 nematodesmal rods; 6–10 contractile vacuoles. The Guangzhou population of Trithigmostoma cucullulus corresponds well with previously described populations, therefore only a brief morphological description is presented. Phylogenetic analysis based on small-subunit rRNA gene sequences data supports the establishment of the new species as well as the monophyly of both genera.