Rhabdophrya trimorpha Chatton & Collin, 1910

Chatterjee, Tapas, Dovgal, Igor & Sautya, Sabyasachi, 2022, A new species of genus Rhabdophrya (Ciliophora: Suctorea) from the west coast of India and comments on the genus taxonomy, Zootaxa 5178 (3), pp. 293-300 : 297

Rhabdophrya trimorpha Chatton & Collin, 1910

( Fig. 4 A–D )

Diagnosis: Aloricate suctorian ciliate with extremely elongated, ribbon-like, slightly laterally flattened cell body. The cross section of the body is elliptical since the edges of the body are thinner than the central part. Short rod-like tentacles evenly distributed along the entire height of the body, not arranged in the fascicles. The macronucleus, ellipsoidal, single micronucleus positioned near macronucleus. There are two or three contractile vacuoles. Stalk short, thin, with small adhesive disk and good developed cup-like apical widening (epicone).

Reproduction by vermigemmy ( Fig. 4 B ) with forming of short, unstalked swarmer ( Fig. 4 C ), which, after attaching to the host body, forming stalk with epicone, grows ( Fig. 4 D ) and turn into trophont stage.

Measurements (in µm, after Chatton & Collin 1910): Trophont body length 160–175; body width 12–15; stalk length about 5. The length of undeveloped swarmer 45, width 10. The length of developed swarmer about the same as in trophont stage.

Type locality: The Mediterranean Sea , Banyuls-sur-Mer, Cap l’Abeille, France ( Chatton & Collin 1910) .

Type host: Cletodes longicaudatus (Boeck, 1872) .

Other hosts and localities: The species also reported as epibiont on copepods Typhlamphiascus sp. and Enhydrosoma sp. from Slovenian coastal water, Bay of Piran, Gulf of Trieste, the North Adriatic Sea (FernandezLeborans et al. 2012).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Known species of genus Rhabdophrya. A–D—Rhabdophrya trimorpha: A—trophont stage, B—budding trophont, C—just separated swarmer, D—developed swarmer; E—Rhabdophrya truncata; F—Rhabdophrya populiformis; G—Rhabdophrya nymphonis (A–D after Collin 1912; E–G after Kahl 1934).