Protospathidium muscicola Dragesco &, 1979

Kim, Ji Hye & Jung, Atef Omar and Jae-Ho, 2020, Brief description of 18 newly recorded ciliate species from soil and inland waters (Protozoa, Ciliophora) in South Korea, Journal of Species Research 9 (3), pp. 251-268 : 259-260

10. Protospathidium muscicola Dragesco &

Dragesco-Kernéis, 1979 ( Fig. 10 )

Material examined. Terrestrial moss collected from Mt. Galmobong , Idang-ri , Goseong-eup, Goseong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea (N 34°58 ʹ 16.1 ʺ, E 128° 16 ʹ 04.3 ʺ) 4 February 2019 .

Diagnosis. Size in vivo about 90 × 20 μm (n = 5). Body very narrowly ellipsoidal or spatulate. Nuclear apparatus composed of scattered macronuclear nodules and micronuclei. Contractile vacuole terminal. Cytoplasm colorless. Extrusomes studded in oral bulge and scattered in cytoplasm, rod shaped. Cortical granules minute and arranged in rows between ciliary rows. About 10 somatic ciliary rows. Dorsal brush consists of three rows, row 1 short, row 2 long up to 20% of body length.

Distribution. Austria, Benin, Botswana, South Africa, Venezuela, and Korea.

Remarks. The Korean population of Protospathidium muscicola is consistent with other populations described by Foissner and Xu (2007) and Dragesco and Dragesco-Kernéis (1979). However, it is most similar to the Venezuelan population in the body size and the number of ciliary rows ( Foissner and Xu, 2007). The Austrian population is much smaller (65 × 10 μm after protargol impregnation) and has rather fewer (8 on average) ciliary rows ( Foissner and Xu, 2007).

Voucher slides. One slide with protargol-impregnated specimens were deposited at the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBRPR11684).

Figures

Fig. 10. Protospathidium muscicola from life (A, B) and after protargol impregnation (C-E). A. Typical body shape to show oral and cyto- plasmic extrusomes with one terminal contractile vacuole. B. Cortical granules and apparatus of dorsal brush rows. C, D. Somatic and circumoral kineties with macronuclear nodules. E. Details of dorsal brush rows. B, brush rows; CV; contractile vacuole; E, extrusomes; MA, macronuclear nodule; OF, oral kinetofragment. Scale bars=30μm.