title: Prototapirella ciliates from wild habituated Virunga mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Rwanda with the descriptions of two new species.
abstract: The morphology of Prototapirella fosseyi n. sp., P. rwanda n. sp. and P. gorillaeImai, Ikeda, Collet, and Bonhomme, 1991 in the Entodiniomorphida were described from the mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei, in Rwanda. The ciliates have a retractable adoral ciliary zone, four non-retractable ciliary tufts in four caudalia, and one broad skeletal plate beneath the body surface. P. rwanda has a dorsal lobe and ventral lobes in two rows whereas P. fosseyi has no lobes. These two new species have an elongated body, a flat tail flap leaning to the ventral, a macronucleus with a tapering anterior end, a round posterior end and a shallow depression on the dorsal side, a micronucleus lying near the anterior end of macronucleus, a thin left region of the skeletal plate, a distinct skeletal rod plate, and four contractile vacuoles. P. gorillae has some variations in the nuclei and the skeletal plate. The infraciliary bands of three Prototapirella species were the same as some Triplumaria species; a C-shaped adoral polybrachykinety, a slender perivestibular polybrachykinety, and paralabial kineties in their retractable adoral ciliary zone and short lateral polybrachykineties in their four caudalia. The perivestibular polybrachykinety is joined only to the right end of adoral polybrachykinety.
authors.affiliation: Ookusa Animal Clinic, Ookusa 503, Matsue, Shimane 690-0032, Japan. Electronic address: pecora@mable.ne.jp.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Atlanta, USA; Departments of Environmental Sciences and Environmental Health, Emory University and Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: Winnie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Eckardt
authors.affiliation: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: Tara S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Stoinski
authors.affiliation: Departments of Environmental Sciences and Environmental Health, Emory University and Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathobiological Analysis, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tokiwa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology*; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology*; D006071:Gorilla gorilla / Q000469:parasitology*; D012432:Rwanda; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: Apes; Infraciliature; Prototapirella fosseyi n. sp.; Prototapirella gorillae Imai, Ikeda, Collet & Bonhomme, 1991; Prototapirella rwanda n. sp.