Zoothamnium sp. 1

Sergeeva, Nelli G., Abibulaeva, Alie S. & Dovgal, Igor V., 2022, First finds of sessile ciliates (Ciliophora) in artificial and natural caverns on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea, Ecologica Montenegrina 52, pp. 33-41 : 36-37

1. Zoothamnium sp. 1 (fig.2)

Description. The colony is alternately branched stalk up to 150 μm high with up to 40 zooids in present collection. The diameter of the main branch of the stalk is about 5 μm. Zooids elongate, measuring about 5– 16 μm in diameter when contracted.

Our material. Preparate ibss.Cil.3.v deposited in the collection IBSS RAS (Sevastopol).

Locality. In present find this species is reported in fouling of the canal walls from underwater part of the canal ( Balaklava Bay , Black Sea) at station № 2 (central least illuminated part). Samples were collected at a depth of 5, 5 m.

Unfortunately, due to fixation of the material, it is not possible to identify these specimens to the species level. But it can also be argued that these are different species of Zoothamnium , which is due to different types of branching, which is one of the key aspects in determining this genus to species.