title: Redescription of a poorly known marine ciliate, Leptoamphisiella vermis Gruber, 1888 n. g., n. comb. (ciliophora, stichotrichia, pseudoamphisiellidae), from the Yellow Sea, China.
abstract: Leptoamphisiella vermisGruber, 1888 n. g., n. comb. (basionym Epiclintes vermisGruber, 1888) is an extraordinarily large and worm-like marine stichotrichous ciliate. Based on a population isolated recently from coastal waters of Qingdao, China, the living morphology and infraciliature are redescribed and its taxonomic position is defined. Accordingly, a new diagnosis for this species is suggested: large, marine Leptoamphisiella with a conspicuous layer of pellicular alveoli; 400-1000 microm x 40-70 microm in vivo; body band-like, highly flexible; about 40 membranelles; always three frontal and two buccal cirri; 52-80 transverse cirri (TC) extending to the posterior end of the buccal field; 57-79 left midventral and 44-62 right midventral cirri; 62-102 cirri in left and 63-91 cirri in right marginal rows (MR); 9-13 dorsal kineties that extend the full body length; about 100 macronuclear nodules and 5-13 micronuclei. The diagnosis for the new genus is as follows: vermiform Pseudoamphisiellidae with strongly contractile body, differentiated frontal, buccal, and highly developed TC; two remarkably separated midventral rows; one MR on each side of the body; frontoterminal and caudal cirri absent. Leptoamphisiella vermis n. comb. is fixed as the type species of the new genus.
authors: Laboratory of Protozoology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
authors: Liqiong
authors: L
authors: Li
authors: Weibo
authors: W
authors: Song
authors: Khaled A S
authors: KA
authors: Al-Rasheid
authors: Xiaozhong
authors: X
authors: Hu
authors: Saleh A
authors: SA
authors: Al-Quraishy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008857:Microscopy, Interference; D012623:Seawater / Q000469:parasitology*; D016622:Silver Staining / Q000379:methods; D013045:Species Specificity