title: Taxonomic studies on three marine pleurostomatid ciliates, Litonotus bergeri nov. spec., L. blattereri nov. spec. and L. petzi nov. spec. (Ciliophora, Pleurostomatida) from North China Sea.
abstract: The morphology and infraciliature of three pleurostomatid ciliates, Litonotus bergeri nov. spec., L. blattereri nov. spec. and L. petzi nov. spec., collected from mariculture ponds near Qingdao (Tsingtao), China, were investigated using live observations and the protargol impregnation method. These new species are distinguished from their congeners by a combination of characters including the typical distribution of extrusomes, i.e., along entire ventral margin, the number of macronuclear nodules, features and number of somatic kineties, living morphology, number and position of contractile vacuoles and their marine biotopes. Considering the distribution of extrusomes and general morphology, five new combinations are suggested, Litonotus vermiforme (Sauerbrey, 1928) nov. comb. [basionym: Loxophyllum vermiforme Sauerbrey, 1928], Litonotus levigatum (Sauerbrey, 1928) nov. comb. [basionym: Loxophyllum levigatum Sauerbrey, 1928], Litonotus undulatum (Sauerbrey, 1928) nov. comb. [basionym: Loxophyllum undulatum Sauerbrey, 1928], Loxophyllum pictus (Gruber, 1884) nov. comb. [basionym: Litonotus pictus Gruber, 1884] and Loxophyllum trichocystiferus (Foissner, 1984) nov. comb. [basionym: Litonotus trichocystiferus Foissner, 1984].
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Protozoology, College of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jiqiu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: Weibo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture; D002681:China; D002923:Cilia / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology*; D048648:Macronucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D012623:Seawater; D013045:Species Specificity