Birojimia terricola Berger and Foissner, 1989

Jung, Atef Omar and Jae-Ho, 2021, New record of 21 ciliate species (Protozoa, Ciliophora) from South Korea, Journal of Species Research 10 (3), pp. 301-320 : 302-303

2. Birojimia terricola Berger and Foissner, 1989 ( Fig. 2 )

Material examined. Terrestrial soil sample collected from a footpath behind Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung, Korea (37°46 ʹ 30.4 ʺ N, 128°51 ʹ 46.2 ʺ E) on 3 January 2020 .

Diagnosis. Body size about 145 × 30 μm after protargol impregnation (n = 6); body elongate ellipsoid; many macronuclear nodules and several micronuclei; cortical granules within and between dorsal kineties, colorless, impregnated with protargol; adoral zone of membranelles covered about 30-35% of cell length with about 25 membranelles; 4 right and 1 left marginal row; 3 frontal, 1 buccal cirrus, about 12 midventral pairs, 2 pretransverse, and 4 transverse cirri; 6 dorsal kineties and 4 or 5 caudal cirri.

Distribution. Brazil, Japan, Venezuela, and Korea.

Remarks. The genus Birojimia comprises three species: Birojimia terricola Berger and Foissner, 1989 (type species); Birojimia litoralis Foissner, 2016 ; and Birojimia soyaensis Kim et al., 2016 . The Korean population of Birojimia terricola corresponds well with the type of B. terricola from Japan ( Berger and Foissner, 1989). All populations described are very similar and differ only in few overlapping morphometric data ( Foissner, 2016). This species is also most similar to B. soyaensis , which was characterized by having small and spherical cortical granules based on a surface view and a higher number of caudal cirri ( Kim et al., 2016). However, we cannot exclude the conspecificity of B. soyaensis and B. terricola because the cortical granules of B. soyaensis have the same size and shape as those of B. terricola when seen on the cell margin. Also, both have similar number of caudal cirri when including the posterior few cirri of the compound rows 5 and 6 in the original description of Berger and Foissner (1989).

Voucher slides. Two slides with protargol-impregnated specimens were deposited at the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBRPR20105, NNIBRPR20106).

Figures

Fig. 2. Photomicrographs of Birojimia terricola from life (A) and after protargol impregnation (B, C). A. Dorsal view showing the body shape, and the arrangement of the cortical granules. B, C. Ventral (B) and dorsal (C) view showing the ciliature, and the nuclear apparatus. 1-4, right marginal rows; AZM, adoral zone of membranelles; BC, buccal cirrus; CG, cortical granules; CV, contractile vacuole; FC, frontal cirri; LMR, left marginal row; MA, macronuclei; MP, midventral pairs; PTC, pretransverse cirri; TC, transverse cirri. Scale bars=50μm.