title: Morphology and molecular phylogeny of a new marine hypotrichous ciliate, Hypotrichidium paraconicum n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia).
abstract: A new saline hypotrich, Hypotrichidium paraconicum n. sp., found in coastal waters near Hong Kong, China, was investigated with emphasis on its living morphology, infraciliature, ontogenesis, and phylogenetic position. A body that is pyriform, with a posterior end that is twisted helically toward the left, a distinct tail and a dark colour, characterizes H. paraconicum n. sp. The buccal cavity is prominent and the cortical granules, which are scattered or sparsely distributed, are colourless, round, and about 1 μm in diam. The contractile vacuole is near the left middle of the cell and there are one or two frontal cirri, four meridional rows and five or six cirral rows which exhibit a left-handed spiral and which are distributed in the posterior portion on both sides. Three dorsal kineties are distributed in the anterior portion of the dorsal side. In our molecular phylogenies, based on SSU rRNA gene sequences, the position of H. paraconicum n. sp. is rather poorly resolved, providing some indication of a relationship with Neokeronopsis aurea and Rubrioxytricha ferruginea, which fall into the assemblage of oxytrichids (s.l.).
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China; Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China.
authors.forename: Lingyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Khaled A S
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Al-Rasheid
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000469:parasitology; D006723:Hong Kong; D008853:Microscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: Hong Kong; Spirotricha; infraciliature; phylogenetic position