Zoothamnium sinense Song, 1991

Abibulaeva, Alie S. & Dovgal, Igor V., 2021, The first finding of sessile ciliates Vorticella pyriforme Stiller, 1939 and Zoothamnium sinense Song, 1991 (Ciliophora, Peritrichia) in the Black Sea, Ecologica Montenegrina 43, pp. 69-75 : 71-73

Zoothamnium sinense Song, 1991 (Fig. 3,4)

Synonyms: Zoothamnium commune sensu Song,1991

Z. truncatum Song, 1986 (primary homonym)

Description. Small colony, 7 to 12 zooids, alternately branched, length of main stalk is 245–300 µm, 6–9 µm in diameter. Zooids inverted bell-shaped, about 35–50 × 30–40 µm in vivo. Peristomial disc is flat, occasionally slightly elevated over distinctly everted peristomial lip. At low magnification, the pellicle looks smooth. Single contractile vacuole apically positioned. Macronucleus is usually C-shaped, transversely oriented, located in oral 2/3 of body and surrounds the aboral portion of infundibulum (after Ji et al., 2006).

Dimensions are based on measurements of 5 samples (table 1).

Distribution of ciliates over the substrate: from 1 to 2 colonies per 1 mm of algae thallus.

Habitat. Marine, occasionally found in eutrophic waters.

Localities. Zoothamnium sinense was originally described by Song (1986) under the name Z. truncatum , but later, due to homonymy, the same author ( Song 1991) proposed a replacement name Z. sinense . This species was reported from North China, attached on artificial substrate by Ji et al. (2006).