title: Revision of the Genus Coriplites Foissner, 1988 (Ciliophora: Haptorida), with Description of Apocoriplites nov. gen. and Three New Species.
abstract: The genera Coriplites Foissner, 1988 and Apocoriplites nov. gen., which differ by the number of dorsal brush rows (3 vs. 2), belong to the haptorid Litostomatea and have a distinct feature in common: they lack oral extrusomes. Based on three new species, the diagnosis of the genus Coriplites is amended to include the wide spacing of the brush dikinetids and the heavily refractive cortical granules. Using standard methods, we redescribe C. terricola Foissner, 1988 and describe three new species: C. grandis (from swamp soil of Australia), C. proctori (from tanks of bromeliads in Jamaica), and Apocoriplites lajacola (from granitic rook-pools in Venezuela). Species are distinguished by the nuclear apparatus (a single nodule vs. two nodules with a micronucleus in between), the body size (<100 μm vs. >100 μm), the number of ciliary rows, and details of the dorsal brush (isostichad vs. heterostichad). In over 1,000 soil samples, only C. terricola has been found in all main biogeographic regions, while the other species have been found only at their type locality, i.e., in the southern hemisphere, where the genus possibly originated.
authors.affiliation: Universität Salzburg, FB Organismische Biologie, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oertel
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al-Rasheid
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Foissner