Lecanophryella satyanandani ( Santhakumari, 1986 )

Chatterjee, Tapas, Dovgal, Igor, Nanajkar, Mandar & Bogati, Kalisa, 2019, Note on the genus Lecanophryella (Ciliophora: Suctorea) with description of a new species from west coast of India, Zootaxa 4612 (4), pp. 494-500 : 496

Lecanophryella satyanandani ( Santhakumari, 1986)

( Fig. 3 A–D)

= Acineta satyanandani Santhakumari, 1986 a , 472–473, Figs. 1-D ; Santhakumari 1997, 172–173; Padmakumar et al. 2015, 176–177, Figs 2 , 4 .

Diagnosis (character emend.). Suctorian ciliate with cup shaped body furnished with three good developed actinophores ( Fig 3 B–D). Lorica absent. From 10 to16 clavate tentacles are located on the tops of actinophores. The protoplasm is finely granular and the body is of straw colour. The shape of the macronucleus changes from oval to rounded.The attachment of the stalk to the host is by means of a circular disc or basal plate. Reproduction was not observed.

Dimensions (in µm): (measurements of present finds were taken from 8 individuals) body length (before the bases of actinophores) 39–50, body width 34–45 (upto 55 after Santhakumari, 1986), body thickness 30, actinophore length 14–41, actinophore width 15–22, length of tentacles 15–34, stalk length 8–12 (20–30 after Santhakumari, 1986), stalk diameter 5–6, size of macronucleus 9×13.

Type material: Type specimens on the host were deposited in the reference collection of the Indian Ocean Biological Centre with the Catologue Number IOBC 0391- 02-15-1985 ( Santhakumari 1986) .

Type host: Cypridina dentata (Müller, 1906) .

Type locality: Southwest coast of India .

Other localities: North Eastern Arabian Sea, 21°59'84" N; 65°59'52"E, on ostracod Cypridina dentata (Müller, 1906) ( Padmakumar, 2015) .

New finds: In the present study the specimens were from Study Area 2: surface pelagic waters of the central west coast of India, Arabian Sea, Lat. 13°20'35.00" N and Long. 73°44'45.00" E on ostracod Cypridina dentata .

Differential diagnosis: From the type species of the genus, the L. satyanandani differs by the presence of always three actinophores, which are cylindrical, with a rounded apical surface, but with absence of any apical exten- sions. The macronucleus of this species is rounded, almost spherical, and not elongated. Unlike other species of the genus Lecanophryella, the L. satyanandani specific to ostracode nor copepode hosts. Remarks: Santhakumari (1986) has mentioned that inside the body of the large specimens of L. satyanandani the observed oval masses could be seen, may be embryos. However, Jankovski (2007) points out that this is a mis- take and in fact, the author’s figure shows the macronucleus, not budding As stated above Jankowski (1992) has proposed to transfer the Santhakumari’s species from genus Acineta into genus Lecanophryella. It is our opinion that this is fully justified because all representatives of genus Acineta are loricated and have two instead of three bundles of tentacles (Curds 1985, Dovgal 2002, 2013).According to all other characters, the diagnosis of the Santhakumari’s species corresponds to the diagnosis of the genus Lecanophryella. This species was found as commensal of marine seed shrimps (Ostracoda), near or at the anterior portion of the host (Santhakumari 1986, 1997). In our material as well the location of the ciliate was in the anterio-ventral region of carapace on the host body (Fig. 3A).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map of Study areas.

FIGURE 2. Lecanophryella paraleptastaci Dovgal, 1985. A. Trophont and two swarmers on host body (orig.); B. Trophont with two actinophores; C—trophont with three actinophores. B–C after Dovgal. 1985, Scale bar—10 μm.

FIGURE 3. Trophonts of Lecanophryella satyanandani (Santhakumari, 1986).A. trophonts on host body; B–D. magnified view of trophonts (orig).

FIGURE 4. Trophont of Lecanophryella indica sp. nov. A. position of L. indica trophonts on host body; B–E magnified view of trophonts; F. Budding individual marked by arrow.