Living observation and silver impregnation methods were used to investigate the morphology and infraciliature of three Frontonia ciliates (F. guangdongensis spec. nov., F. ocularis Bullington, 1939 and F. schaefferi Bullington, 1939) that were isolated from coastal waters of the South China Sea. Frontonia guangdongensis spec. nov. may be recognized by the combination of the following characteristics: cells about 160 × 35 μm in vivo; elongated body with right margin depressed in anterior third; length to width ratio 4:1 to 5:1; three or four vestibular and four or five postoral kineties; peniculi 1 and 2 each with four rows of kineties, peniculus 3 with two rows; one contractile vacuole in mid-body region right of cell median; brackish water habitat. A key based on morphological data for fourteen marine or brackish water Frontonia species found in China is also provided. In addition, the small subunit (SSU) rDNA gene was sequenced for F. ocularis Bullington, 1939. Our phylogenetic analyses support the contention that the genus Frontonia is not monophyletic.
The morphology and infraciliature of four marine scuticociliates, Pleuronema elegans spec. nov., P. setigerum Calkins, 1902, P. grolierei Wang et al., 2008 and Uronema orientalis spec. nov., collected from China seas, were investigated through live observation and protargol staining methods. Pleuronema elegans spec. nov. can be recognized by the combination of the following characters: size in vivo 90–115 × 45–60 µm, slender oval in outline with a distinctly pointed posterior end; about 10 prolonged caudal cilia; consistently two preoral kineties and 18 or 19 somatic kineties; membranelle 2a double-rowed with its posterior end straight; membranelle 3 three-rowed; one macronucleus; marine habitat. Uronema orientalis spec. nov. is distinguished by the following features: in vivo about 40–55 × 20–30 μm with a truncated apical plate; consistently twenty somatic kineties; membranelle 1 single-rowed and divided into two parts which comprise four and three basal bodies respectively; contractile vacuole pore positioned at the end of the second somatic kinety; marine habitat. We also provide improved diagnoses for P. grolierei Wang et al., 2008 and P. setigerum Calkins, 1902 based on current and previous reports. The small subunit rRNA gene of U. orientalis, P. elegans, P. grolierei and P. puytoraci were sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that Uronema and Pleuronema are not monophyletic.
The morphology and infraciliature of two marine scuticociliates, Pleuronema puytoraci Grolière and Detcheva, 1974, and Parauronema longum Song, 1995, collected from China, were investigated using live observation and protargol impregnation methods. Based on the data obtained for the China population, new information of the living morphology of Pleuronema puytoraci is documented and details of the complete infraciliature is available for the first time. The stomatogenesis of Parauronema longum is basically similar to that of its congeners and can be summarized as follows: membranelle 1, membranelle 2 and the scutica of the opisthe originate from the parental paroral membrane, whereas membranelle 3 of the opisthe develops from the parental scutica; the paroral membrane originates from the parental paroral membrane.
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