Rimaleptus mucronatus (Penard, 1922) Vďačný, Orsi, Bourland, Shimano, Epstein

Bharti, Daizy & Kumar, Santosh, 2019, Ten new records of Protozoan Ciliates (Protozoa: Ciliophora) from India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 119 (2), pp. 111-119 : 117

8. Rimaleptus mucronatus (Penard, 1922) Vďačný, Orsi, Bourland, Shimano, Epstein and

Foissner, 2011 ( Figure 3C, D )

Diagnosis of the Indian population (Data based on 5 specimens): Size about 300 × 35 μm in protargol preparations; shape narrowly dileptid with distinct tail, proboscis about 40% of body length. Nuclear apparatus composed of two oblong macronuclear nodules with a micronucleus in between. Two types of extrusomes attached to proboscis oral bulge: type I rod-shaped to slightly ovate, usually 5 × 0.5 μm; type II oblong, 2 × 0.5 μm long. On average 20 ciliary rows.

Material deposited: Two slides including protargol-impregnated specimens have been deposited at the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India with the following accession numbers Pt. 4015/3 (7 specimens marked on the slide) and Pt. 4198/2 (4 specimens marked on the slide) .

Occurrence and ecology: Rimaleptus mucronatus has a cosmopolitan distribution. It has been recorded from Benin, Kenya, Zanzibar, Venezuela, St. Vincent Island, Australia, Austria, Slovakia, Saudi Arabia, China, Namibia, USA, Switzerland, France, England, Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Canada ( Vďačný and Foissner, 2012). The present study reports its presence from soil samples collected from the Flamingo Bird Sanctuary (19°06’37’’N 72°59’42’’E and 19°06’37’’N 72°59’38’’E). The samples were collected from site having grassland, trees and mangrove in surroundings. It feeds on flagellates, and bacteria .

Figures

Figure 3. Photomicrographs of protargol impregnated specimens. A, B. Leptopharynx costatus, ventral (A) and dorsal (B) views, arrowheads point to the food vacuoles. C, D. Rimaleptus mucronatus. E1, type 1 extrusomes; E2, type 2 extrusomes; MA, macronuclear nodules; MI, micronuclei. Scale bars 15 μm (A, B), 100 μm (D).